Bamboo Gleanings
The latent bloom of a renegade bamboo.
ALMOST UNEQUIVOCALLY, Spring brings rebirth, regeneration, renewal. So it was pretty peculiar for Jill Nooney to walk among the emerging shade plantings around the Tea House last week and see her 70-foot-long stand of bamboo blooming. You see, for many of the weird and wonderful bamboo species, blooming signals the end of life.
Bamboo is a fascinating horticultural oddity. Not a tree, it’s the largest member of the grass family, with some varieties growing nearly 120 feet high. It can do this at an astonishingly fast rate (up to three feet in a day, or 1.5 inches an hour for the taller species), reaching full height in its first three to four months of growth. It does this because bamboo shoots are divided into segments that each expand, or elongate (think telescope).
Bamboo is a fascinating horticultural oddity. Not a tree, it’s the largest member of the grass family, with some varieties growing nearly 120 feet high. It can do this at an astonishingly fast rate (up to three feet in a day, or 1.5 inches an hour for the taller species), reaching full height in its first three to four months of growth. It does this because bamboo shoots are divided into segments that each expand, or elongate (think telescope).
Does this mean that bamboos live fast and die young? Not at all. Most bamboos will outlive you and me.
Normally, bamboos propagate by rhizomes, producing new shoots (a.k.a., culms) each year. Eventually, a whole stand or forest will be cloned from a single mother plant. But whether a culm was spawned one year or fifty years after the mother plant, all related plants will bloom at roughly the same time (they're "monocarpic," blooming only once), according to each species' own “clock. In some species, this could mean at 20 years; others, at 120 years.
Early Spring by the Tea House with Fargesia murieliae. Here's the really wacky part: We humans have yet to discover how and why, but when genetically related plants are shipped around the world and grown in varying climates, growing conditions, even altitudes, they will still all bloom in the time frame.
These "gregarious," or mass, flowerings can take several years to unfold. And like so much in nature that subscribes to the “in death there is life” mantra, the flowering produces fruit, which produces seed, which starts the long process over again.
These "gregarious," or mass, flowerings can take several years to unfold. And like so much in nature that subscribes to the “in death there is life” mantra, the flowering produces fruit, which produces seed, which starts the long process over again.
“Can plants communicate?” asks Jill. “Is there a secret signal between members that lets all their brethren know across continents that this is the time to bloom?”
The deer-resistant and cold-hardy Fargesia rufa. Native to five mostly southern continents, few bamboo fare well in New England’s climate. Bedrock’s stand, leftover from a Boston Flower and Garden Show exhibit Jill designed some ten years ago (“The Amazing Grass Family”), is Fargesia marieliae. It’s a clumping, non-invasive, bright-shade loving variety that’s cold-hardy to -20F and can reach heights up to 12 feet.
“It requires no care and makes a lovely, filtered screen,” says Jill. "[Though an evergreen, it acts] deciduous in our climate, losing its leaves in winter, which is something to bear in mind if you're using it as a screen."
Curiously, a neighboring stand of F. murieliae at Bedrock bloomed five years ago, in keeping with the outer time frame of a worldwide flowering that was taking place. The stand blooming now seemingly missed that beat, or else is a renegade -- a teenager perhaps, denying the will of the mother plant.
Another equally beautiful and hardy variety at Bedrock, Fargesia rufa, grows into large clumps (6-8 ft wide and 10 feet tall) with arching, umbrella-like stems. It tolerates cold to -15F, and prefers afternoon shade. Though deer resistant, both varieties are a favorite food of the China native, the giant panda.
“It requires no care and makes a lovely, filtered screen,” says Jill. "[Though an evergreen, it acts] deciduous in our climate, losing its leaves in winter, which is something to bear in mind if you're using it as a screen."
Curiously, a neighboring stand of F. murieliae at Bedrock bloomed five years ago, in keeping with the outer time frame of a worldwide flowering that was taking place. The stand blooming now seemingly missed that beat, or else is a renegade -- a teenager perhaps, denying the will of the mother plant.
Another equally beautiful and hardy variety at Bedrock, Fargesia rufa, grows into large clumps (6-8 ft wide and 10 feet tall) with arching, umbrella-like stems. It tolerates cold to -15F, and prefers afternoon shade. Though deer resistant, both varieties are a favorite food of the China native, the giant panda.
When Fargesia rufa blooms... We humans have been cultivating bamboo for thousands of years, and as a result, its practical, aesthetic and spiritual significance is deeply entrenched in many cultures. It is featured in several creation stories, and is often considered a symbol of longevity.
In northeast India, however, bamboo blooming actually brings famine and death. Known as Mautam, the flowering of the species Melocanna baccifera every 45 to 50 years is followed by a plague of rats that gorge on the abundant fruit and quickly reproduce. Once the bamboos' offerings are exhausted, the rats leave the forests to forage on nearby maize and rice fields, as well as stored grain, resulting in heavy food loss and famine. This is not just the stuff of stories: The most recent flowering began in May 2004.
Melocanna baccifera aside, bamboo is highly life-affirming. Humans have been using it for centuries to make food and wine, medicine, building materials, furniture, cloth, paper, traditional Chinese instruments, basketwork, bowls, and other everyday necessities. In Japan, it’s associated with laughter and playfulness, possibly due to the sound that its leaves make on windy days, and its uses in traditional kite, toy, and craft making.
Like its gregarious bloom time and death, there is much about the plant that is both fascinating and ironic. It’s also endangered, with more than half of the world’s 1,200 woody species threatened with extinction. I encourage you learn more about it and perhaps even invite this wild and ancient specimen into your garden...and life. Either way, come see it at Bedrock Gardens before it’s gone.
In northeast India, however, bamboo blooming actually brings famine and death. Known as Mautam, the flowering of the species Melocanna baccifera every 45 to 50 years is followed by a plague of rats that gorge on the abundant fruit and quickly reproduce. Once the bamboos' offerings are exhausted, the rats leave the forests to forage on nearby maize and rice fields, as well as stored grain, resulting in heavy food loss and famine. This is not just the stuff of stories: The most recent flowering began in May 2004.
Melocanna baccifera aside, bamboo is highly life-affirming. Humans have been using it for centuries to make food and wine, medicine, building materials, furniture, cloth, paper, traditional Chinese instruments, basketwork, bowls, and other everyday necessities. In Japan, it’s associated with laughter and playfulness, possibly due to the sound that its leaves make on windy days, and its uses in traditional kite, toy, and craft making.
Like its gregarious bloom time and death, there is much about the plant that is both fascinating and ironic. It’s also endangered, with more than half of the world’s 1,200 woody species threatened with extinction. I encourage you learn more about it and perhaps even invite this wild and ancient specimen into your garden...and life. Either way, come see it at Bedrock Gardens before it’s gone.
Welcome back to what is certain to be an amazing year at Bedrock Gardens! I'm Lisa Peters O'Brien, a.k.a., the Bedrock blogger, and I'm back for the season. I hope you'll stop in to "Digging Deeper" often, or subscribe here, for behind-the-scenes looks of what makes Bedrock Gardens rock and grow. Is there something you'd like to know? Ideas, comments, and questions are welcome. If you like what you read, please share!
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