Bamboo nature's most versatile plant

Bamboo has thousands of uses. It is a sought after food when the shoots are young and tender. Mature poles are used as building materials. The Japanese flute (Shakuhachi) is made from bamboo.

I decided to try my hand at cultivating bamboo and the following pictures are of some of my first plantings

Mar. of  2001 pic is after 8 mo. or so of growth. I put out some cuttings of Oldhamii, a clumping variety of bamboo. I got the 5 starts from Matt Finstrom in Tucson and they were only 12" tall and
less than 1/8" diameter.
 

By Dec. 2001 they had already grown quite a bit

By Sept. 2002 the clumps had gotten pretty substantial

This pic was taken in Feb. 2003. The taller shoots are starting to come out and as the planting matures the growth should be even taller

By Aug, 2003 the center growth had filled out.

Besides the clumping variety, I've planted some runners and they too are doing well. It's on the west side of the house and provides afternoon shade from the summer sun. Of course they are runners and I suppose I could wake some morning and find that they've grown under the house and lifted me and the house up so I'll be living in a tree house

As I find other varieties to plant and experiment with, I'll be updating these pages
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