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Basically, the message is that you need to have realistic expectations. Most bamboos have green canes with green leaves. Some have variegated leaves (white stripes on the leaves.) For the most part, variegated leaves are most vibrant when the leaf is young. Age and exposure to the sun most often dulls the variegation. An exception is Bambusa glaucophlla MALAY DWARF, whose leaves stay variegated in full sun. Examples of
variegated leafed bamboos are: For color in the canes – here are some useful qualities to keep in mind. For the most part yellow caned bamboos are yellow from inception. The canes generally emerge yellow, and stay yellow until that particular cane reaches the end of its personal road. The exception to this would be Bambusa dolichomerithalla greenstripe. This is a bamboo whose canes start off green and then mature to yellow. Examples of
yellow caned bamboos are: Black bamboos usually start off green when they are juvenile. Every season, the new canes emerge green and then turn black. Smaller, younger plants may take a season or two to attain the maturity to change color. Older plants will do it as a matter of course. Examples of
black caned bamboos are: Blue bamboos, White bamboos and Red bamboos all have moments in their lives when they are absolutely blue, red or maybe white. But these are moments. The spectacular color usually occurs when the plant is putting up its newest canes. Blue and White bamboos throw new shoots that are covered with a lot of powder (sometimes called ‘bloom’). When the canes are covered in this powder they appear (convincingly) to be blue. If you look at the photos on this site you will see examples of this color. None of the photos have been digitally altered but they were taken at particular moments in the life of the plants. Examples of
blue and white bamboos are: Red bamboos are similar but not exactly analogous. The red (or maybe pink) canes are newer shoots…with maturity these shoots turn yellow. Examples of
red bamboo are:
Examples of
these plants are: Other bamboos have spectacular striations but only for the duration of the new cane – mostly these canes turn green after about 6 months. Examples of
these bamboos are: We encourage all of you looking for color features in bamboo to relate to it as you would to flowers in other plants. When it’s in flower (or color season) it’s fabulous and when the flowering season is over, hopefully you like the form or the function of the plant enough to wait for the return of the seasonal color. We have not listed all colored bamboos as examples. Red bamboos, blue bamboos and striated bamboos may not show their color or striations for the first season or two. Please look over the catalog for the growing characteristics of these plants listed above. |
