Colour
Next to cane thickness and height, colour is fast becoming a desirable feature and there is no shortage of species to choose from. The majority have either plain yellow canes, yellow canes striped green, or green canes striped yellow, and most belong to the phyllostachys group.
 Phyllostachys sulphurea 'Robert Young' and P. aureosulcata 'Aureocaulis' both have bright golden-yellow canes; P. a. 'Spectabilis' has yellow canes striped green; P. bambusoideds 'Castillonis' has thick, deep yellow canes with a broad green stripe.
P aureosulcata and P. bambusoides 'Castillonis Inversa' have reversed colour.
Confused? then try Phyllostachys vivax 'Aureocaulis' as one of the best, though not the most vigorous, with thick yellow canes striped green.
All these plants grow anything from 4.5-6m (15-20ft) in height.
 For something more modest, try two lovely small bamboos with white-striped leaves: Pleioblastus shibuyanus 'Tsuboi' at (1-1.5m (3-5ft) has subtle creamy-white stripes while x Hibanobamusa tranquillans 'Shiroshima' has bolder, more distinctive, striping of the leaves and is taller at 2-3m (6-10ft).
With all this choice there cannot fail to be something to suit every palate. The Japanese have long valued and used the bamboo in their gardens, always in association with water.
Even the smallest plot could accommodate a few of these lovely plants which, along with their foreign cousins, help so much to convey the atmosphere of warmer climates. The hardy palms, tree ferns, cordy-lines, phormiums, bananas and, not least, the bamboos create a picture which is second to none. |
