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Spring 2014

March 25, 2014 tarzan Comments 0 Comment

With warm weather, dormancy ended and new growth cycle started.

I stored weak Arundo donax Variegata divisions from last year in heated place without enough light. They survived, but not without casualties. Plants ended up even weaker and hopefully they will recover when I finally plant them outside. I learned my lesson to never store Arundo donax inside during the winter again. Most of the unvariegated clones I got by layering ended badly. Only two plants remain alive above ground, many died below the soil level as well. Heat, low light level and wet soil with minimal oxygen capacity did their worst. I left one clone outside and it froze and thawed continuously until spring, now it’s also waking up. It may end up the best.
One variegated shoot already decided it’s about time to break free.

Buds swelled early when temperatures were still low. It looks like they can take several late freezes if not too big.

Borinda fungosa seedling that got fried when temperatures dropped to around -10°C is regenerating. First branch buds are pale green, some of them almost white. Pale leaves that are starting to form have that distinctive pinkish tan like many other variegated bamboos. It doesn’t seem to be variegated though, no true leaves are fully formed yet.

Branches on last year's autumn shoot. — Branches on last year’s autumn shoot.

With some of the branches gone, new set is emerging.

Culm color as seen using camera's flash light. — Culm color as seen using camera’s flash light.

With warm sunny weather, culms that were mature enough – all except the last autumn shoots, became dark brown. The more sun the culm receives, darker it becomes. It seems that after a while with some more sun exposure, dark brown color becomes almost red. Autumn shoots remained green despite growing in identical conditions. Without leaves there’s a lot of light and it will be interesting to see if culm color can get even more intense.

After prolonged sun exposure, even the newest shoots began to turn color from green to shiny dark brown. Culms get their specific color and they have a glossy look, just as they were polished. Young culms with wax coating take longer to change color. Culms with old, partly degraded remains of culm sheaths, can be totally brown, but beneath the straw colored sheath remnants, culms are green. During the spring, there are almost no leaves on fungosa, which means there’s a lot of light.

Fascinating colors on almost completely defoliated bamboo

Hibanobambusa tranquillans Shirosima's elongated buds. — Hibanobambusa tranquillans Shirosima’s elongated buds.

Other bamboos also started to grow and will most likely start shooting as well. Hibanobambusa tranquillans ‘Shiroshima’ is already growing new branches and will soon replace leaves that got mildly fried by winter cold.

One of the last plants that started growing was cold hardy Hibiscus Hibiscus moscheutos. It was started from seed year ago and I can only speculate if it’s label was actually correct. Color of it’s flowers also remains a mystery.

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Cold

December 5, 2013 tarzan Comments 14 comments

Cold weather ends the growing season sooner or later, this year it was rather soon. With no snow insulation, cold can induce more damage that with thick layer of snow insulation. This year, despite all the cold, we are yet to see the first snow.

Hard frosts had made Borinda fungosa suffer. — Hard frosts had made *Borinda fungosa* suffer.

Borinda fungosa seedling was holding on very well down to -5°C. Soon night temperature dropped down to -7°C and many of the leaves got damaged. Leaves that remained undamaged, surprisingly remained unfolded even during sunny and windy weather. It did loose all the shoots from this autumn, as it did last winter, but this time, some of them remained tall, only loosing their fragile top. Perhaps in the spring, they will begin the branching process. Cold weather persisted for around two weeks, daily highs were slightly above or below freezing, it was sunny and windy most of the time. Morning low temperatures were between -5°C and -8°C. This is it’s second winter outside, I’ll see how it resists cold. Last year when it was covered in thick layer of snow most of the winter, it managed to keep most of the leaves intact.
Well, the problem with all that snow insulation was weight. Heavy wet snow broke all the taller culms and only a couple of old tiny ones remained. Dead shoots that grew in late fall were not all dead, one of them managed to grow branches around the lowest node, that was buried under thick layer of mulch.
After almost a month of very cold weather, with fog persisting through most of the day, with day temperature slightly below freezing, leafs managed to unfold, showing the damage. It looks like most, if not all, leaves were completely killed or badly damaged. Culms and branches are showing their dark brown color and they seem to be alive even after prolonged period of cold weather. Hopefully in 4 months we’ll get some warm weather for it to recover.

Shiroshima with it's beautiful varieagated leaves remains almost intact. — Shiroshima with it’s beautiful varieagated leaves remains almost intact.

Hibanobambusa tranquilans ‘Shiroshima’ is looking hardy enough to survive this kind of cold dry weather without hassle. There’s no evident damage, not even on several late fall whip shoots. Whips stopped growing with arrival of cold weather, lower nodes actually hardened enough to drop off culm sheathes, while their tops remained fresh and stopped growing completely. I guess we’ll have to wait and see if they resume in the spring. With temperatures close to freezing, white variegation on the leaves turned into bright yellow color, making bamboo look even better.

Moso seedling that remained inside the pot is showing quite some damage.

Phyllostachys pubescens ‘Moso’ seedling that escaped it’s pot is showing moderate leaf damage. It’s evident, that there’s almost no damage on the escaped part of bamboo that ran out of the pot two seasons ago. Leaves that were pale during the summer and showed some kind of stress, wilted after first heavy frost. Dark green leaves mostly remained undamaged, but they do tend to wilt when exposed

Moso seedling shows some damage, but it looks quite good.

to sun. Wilting is normal, because soil already got frozen on top and bamboo have to save water inside it’s leaves.
The part that escaped managed to put out numerous runners and a couple of shoots that barely poked out through the mulch. They are most likely whip shoots that missed their growing season. So far they haven’t got soft and are most likely alive, waiting to resume in the spring. Last year, pot ended up as home of mice family that stayed there throughout the winter. They didn’t do much damage, but there were holes all around the pot and I’m sure there was some root damage. Well, better mice than voles! They can devastate whole bamboo clumps.

Umbrella palm seedlings, planted around the garden and inside the pond didn’t take the cold well. First hard frost killed everything above the soil/water level, and most likely, rhizomes as well. We’ll see if it restarts in the spring, if not, I still have one large seedling kept safely inside.
At first dark green damaged leaves turned into straw color. They’ve kept their appearance as they would still be alive. Dry clumps of umbrella papyrus are looking quite good. I’m going to keep them for a while, if rain or snow doesn’t make them look ugly that is.

Cyperus alternifolius that remained inside the pond got frozen. It's not ugly just yet, though. — Cyperus alternifolius that remained inside the pond got frozen. It’s not ugly just yet, though.

It changed color from dark green to straw yellow. I'm keeping those bushes, because they look quite fascinating. — It changed color from dark green to straw yellow. I’m keeping those bushes, because they look quite fascinating.

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Chimonocalamus pallens

May 31, 2013 tarzan Comments 0 Comment

I received a package of Chimonocalamus pallens seeds as a gift from a friend with a flowering bamboo. If you are reading this, thank you again!

This bamboo doesn’t like cold winters, which are common around here. That means it’s most likely condemned to become an indoor plant that will get outside in late spring and back inside when it gets cooler in autumn. Like most bamboos, Chimonocalamus pallens likes moist but not wet soil. It tolerates strong sun and should be quite heat tolerant, which could prove useful during the summer months.

Basic information:

Height: 8 m
Culm diameter: 3.8 cm
Hardiness: -9 °C
Characteristics: node thorns, upright growth, clumping bamboo, sun tolerant

Seeds started germinating on August 26th (2012). Out of 5 seeds from first batch, 3 managed to poke out of the soil after germination. Sadly, two of the seedlings died shortly after, due to slug damage. I knew I should sterilize the soil before I planted them … At first, pallens seedlings are slow to get going, but with time, growth rate accelerates and new shoots become more and more vigorous.

Thorns started to form around the Chimonocalamus pallens node — Thorns started to form around the node

Compared to Phyllostachys pubescens Moso seedlings or Borinda fungosa, which I also tried growing from seeds, Chimonocalamus pallens needed much more attention. It might be soil related, but it seems that if Moso seedlings are picky when it comes to nutrients and nutrient availability, pallens is even worse. After first couple of leaves, they begin to look pale and started loosing old leaves. Most of the seedlings had shown old culm death after they managed to shoot and despite that, they started growing faster. When shooting started, seedlings had shown leaf deformations, similar to those on Borinda fungosa seedlings. Culm tips on old stems often died off to provide more nutrients to newly growing shoots. Adding fertilizer seems to improve this deficiency. I tried adding Epsom salts, iron oxide (water with rust particles in it) and common water soluble liquid fertilizer with high nitrogen content. Foilage got greener and plants looked healthier. Growth, however, didn’t accelerate.

Seedlings were placed outside after it got warmer, but soon, they got hit by strong wind, hail, torrential rain, strong sun and unbelievably cold weather. Growth stunted completely, but they should start growing again when things get back to normal.

With warmer summer weather, seedlings started to take off, but were then again stunted by heat and strong sun exposure. Seedlings were placed into protected place in full sun, with added protective mesh that blocked direct sun. Most of them had shown little if any stress, but overall, there was not much growth during the summer. Things changed again when temperatures dropped again and rain started to fall on a regular daily basis. New shoots appeared on most of the seedlings in early September. When compared to other bamboo seedlings I’ve grown, these had shown much less vigor during their first year. Test seedling got nearly killed during the summer, but it started showing signs of life after I placed it out of the pot into shaded spot. I will most likely leave it there for the winter to see how cold hardy it actually is.

Using protection from strong summer sun, seedlings got their dark green color and started shooting vigorously.

During the winter, bamboos were kept in their original undersized pots and they were not enjoying their warm and dry environment. Due to lack of light, autumn shoots became tall and fragile, most of them suffered at some point and their tops dried out or break – then dry out. Freezing temperature top killed test seedling that was kept outside in the ground, but when I pulled it out, I did notice some fresh roots and even emerging shoots. I’ll see if it can recover.
It all seems that Chimonocalamus pallens seedlings can withstand dry and hot conditions better than most similar clumpers (Borinda, Fargesia or Yushania), but will need a lot of light to continue with healthy growth. The second reason of their current condition was lack of soil in their pots. They shared pots that were shallow, with minimal space for their root system to establish. I’ll try to get them going again, when they recover I’ll plant them seperately into larger containers, now they are all together planted into aged compost.