The national association says it is only a grass, but not many plants are looked at with as much heart pounding fear and trepidation as bamboo. But it is that grass element that caught us all by surprise last spring.
You see, bamboo does bloom. It is not predictable, and it is not necessarily something celebrated by horticulturists, as maintenance will soon be required. Some countries even look at the bloom of bamboo as catastrophic.
Without getting into a lengthy dissertation on the bloom of bamboo, only a portion of the three clumps on the farm bloomed, making it easy for us to remove as part of the required after-bloom maintenance. When the bloom started, we were stunned as to what occurred next. It was an ornithological extravaganza.
The 18-foot-tall bamboo bloomed for weeks. Some of the large grass seeds remained on the bamboo canes, while others were sloughed off to the ground. The result of all of this, however, was a bird-feeding frenzy.
Indio buntings, painted buntings, blue grosbeaks, rose-breasted grosbeaks, Eastern towhees, gray catbirds and cardinals all kept us thrilled.
In other places, they go to great lengths to keep birds from getting the seeds.
This is an occurrence in which naturalists and horticulturists stand together in time, awed and amazed.
To be honest, I would love to have more bamboo blooming next season, although I would hate to see an entire clump of our historic bamboo be lost to such an event. Our clump of Chinese Goddess bamboo has been in place since 1928.
Right now, like some naturalist nerds, we are rejoicing, thanks to some hedge bamboo. Since Jan. 8, we have been playing host to a Wilson’s warbler, which is most rare in our area. There are also blue-headed vireos, black and white warblers, ruby-crowned kinglets, wren’s and other birds darting in and out of the bamboo snagging low-flying insects.
Bamboo and birds is a pairing most of us have never considered. Maybe it is like the icing on the cake or a plant with added benefits. For the Japanese garden or tropical garden, however, no plant can lend the look and texture of bamboo.
As a screen, bamboo is one of the best. If you need a ground cover that is 2 to 4 feet in height, you can’t beat bamboo. One look at bamboo, and you get a sense of being in the presence of a plant of rare beauty, both exotic and foreign.
The Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens got its start in 1919 as a USDA Plant Introduction Station because of bamboo. It still maintains a sizeable collection, including Mrs. Miller’s giant timber bamboo she planted on the farm in 1890.
Bamboo is native to Asia, Africa and even the Americas. There are species of bamboo that can be grown from Zones 5 to the tropics.
As the American Bamboo Association says, it is just a grass. In fact, bamboos can be small, dwarf grasses reaching only a foot in height or very large ones reaching 120 feet tall. Some are capable of putting on an incredible display of growth of more than 3 feet per day.
Just think, you can invite friends and guests over to have barbecue and watch the bamboo grow, or if you are really lucky, do some spectacular bird watching.
Norman Winter is director of the Coastal Georgia Botanical Gardens at the Historic Bamboo Farm, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension, and author of “Tough-as-Nails Flowers for the South” and “Captivating Combinations: Color and Style in the Garden.” Follow him at #CGBGgardenguru
