Bamboos and Palms

The wonderfully statuesque, Oriental Black Bamboo (Phyllostachys Nigra), is a rare and unusual plant that will create a fantastic focal point in your garden. It's arching green canes turn lustrous black in their second or third year, while it's abundant glossy leaves remain evergreen. It forms a clump, but unlike other varieties of bamboo, it isn't invasive and can be grown in a half barrel or very large container. A very ornamental plant. There are many named forms of this species, some of them are given specific status by some botanists. These forms include 'Boryana', 'Fulva', 'Henonis' and 'Punctata'. It is the form 'Henonis' that is normally used medicinally in China. Even though its origins are in China, it's fully hardy and the British winter won't harm it, making a very welcome and unexpected winter treat for visitors to your garden. Click the image to read more!

A beautiful evergreen bamboo growing to up to 6m by 6m. Plants only flower at intervals of many years. The bottoms of some culms have large kinks in them, this limits their use for timber etc but makes them great to look at for a more ornamental Japanese garden. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by the wind. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade and requires quite a moist soil. This is a good companion species to grow in woodland areas because the plants are shallow rooted and do not compete with deep rooted trees. Click the image to read more!

An evergreen bamboo growing to 5m which is in leaf all year. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by the wind. The Running Bamboo requires a rich damp soil in a sheltered position and plenty of moisture in the growing season. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils and also acid, neutral and basic (alkaline) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland) or no shade with a moist soil. The plant can tolerate strong winds but not maritime exposure. Click the image to read more!

This hardy plant that will still look graceful in any position. It is an evergreen Bamboo and in leaf all year. The flowers are hermaphrodite (have both male and female organs) and are pollinated by the wind. The plant prefers light (sandy), medium (loamy) and heavy (clay) soils. It can grow in semi-shade (light woodland). It requires moist soil and can tolerate drought. A very hardy bamboo, it succeeds in most parts of Britain but suffers leaf and culm damage at temperatures below about -15°c. Plants only flower at intervals of many years. Although called the 'Golden Bamboo', the leaves of this plant only turn golden if plants are grown in full sun, especially if the plants are half-starved. Cultivated for its edible shoots in China, it has the sweetest taste of the genus. It has been widely planted as an ornamental in the Mediterranean and seems to be naturalizing there. Click the image to read more!

This is a dwarf ornamental bamboo which grows to a maximum of 3ft. It has a beautiful array of gleaming yellow leaves, striped with green, for nine months of the year (summer, autumn, winter). It is very good to use in the foreground of a planting arrangement. It forms dense clumps but will turn a subtle lime-green if grown in light shade. Canes have a purple flush to them and can be cut to the ground in autumn or spring to encourage the new yellow growth. This beautiful variegated bamboo is also brilliant in a dull border, a container or as groundcover. Click the image to read more!

One of the easiest bamboos to grow in Britain, it prefers an open loam of fair quality and a position sheltered from cold drying winds but it tolerates maritime exposure. Succeeds on peaty soils. Succeeds in soils that are half earth and half stone. Requires abundant moisture and plenty of organic matter in the soil. Endures near-saturated soil conditions. Dislikes drought. A very ornamental plant, it is said to be the hardiest bamboo, tolerating temperatures down to about -15°c. Down to -24°c according to another report. In warmer parts of Britain plants can attain a height of 6 metres or more. The rootstock is running and very invasive. It is fairly easy to control, however, if any new shoots that are not wanted are broken off whilst they are still small and brittle. New shoots appear from April. This species is notably resistant to honey fungus. Plants often flower lightly for a number of years without dying out though they seldom produce viable seed. Occasionally the plants can produce an abundance of flowers and this severely weakens, though does not usually kill, the plants. They can take some years to recover. If fed with artificial fertilizers at this time the plants are more likely to die. Many plants flowered heavily in the late 1980's and are only slowly recovering. Click the image to read more!

The Windmill Palm is one of the most cold hardy palms available. It is beautifully compact and grows to heights of 20-40 ft. The erect, single trunk of Windmill Palm is covered with dense, brown, hairlike fibers, and the three-foot-wide, fan-shaped fronds extend from 1.5-foot-long, rough-edged petioles. The trunk appears to be wrapped in burlap. A very slow-growing palm, Windmill Palm can reach 40 feet in height but is often seen much smaller, 10 to 20 feet tall. The Windmill Palm works well as a framing tree, accent, specimen, patio or urn subject. It is ideal for use as an accent in a shady shrub border or by a front entryway. It does well in confined areas and is hardy to 10-degrees F. or lower. The Windmill or Hemp Palm should be grown in shade or partial shade on fertile soil to look its best, but it is also tolerant of full sun on well-drained soils when given ample moisture in the northern part of its range. Plants should be watered faithfully. Protection from harsh winds will minimize leaf tearing, but plants can be used successfully close to the shore, being quite tolerant of salt and wind. There are fine examples of mass plantings where palms are spaced six to 10 feet apart around a patio or sitting area. They have also been used very successfully lining an entry walk to a large building. This adds a formal elegance to any structure, especially one with a glass facade. Click the image to read more!

This cold-hardy, single-trunked palm is easily recognized by its rounded canopy of blue-grey, strongly-recurved, graceful fronds which curve in toward the trunk. The heavy, stocky trunks are covered with persistent leaf bases. Large, showy clusters of orange-yellow, juicy, edible fruits, the size of large dates, are produced and often used to make jams or jellies. The fruit, ripening in summer. This slow-growing palm eventually can eventually reach 20 feet tall. An evergreen tree growing to 6m by 4m at a slow rate. It is in leaf all year. The flowers are monoecious (individual flowers are either male or female, but both sexes can be found on the same plant). Growing in full sun or part shade on a wide variety of soils, including alkaline, pindo palm is moderately salt-tolerant. The Pindo palm can survive hot, windy conditions, asphalt and concrete areas but looks better in good soil with adequate moisture. Click the image to read more!

The attractive little European fan palm has become very popular in recent years, mostly due to its cold hardiness. This small, multi-stemmed, hardy palm is the only one native to Europe, and is hardier than most palms. The curved, clumping, short trunks and gray-green, fan-shaped leaves, borne thickly in a bushy head, make a stunning sculptural element in a garden or patio containers. The fine-textured fronds make the palm stand out from other plants in the landscape. Leaf color on individual plants ranges from light green through silver. Although growth rate is slow, it is well worth the wait since even small Plants will stand out nicely in almost any landscape. By removing suckers from the base of the main trunk, this slightly salt-tolerant palm may also be trained as a single-trunked palm. Since the leaf stalks are spiny, the Fan Palm may also be used as a barrier, planted three to five feet apart. It makes a nice accent plant in a shrub border or in a low-growing groundcover. It can also be planted several feet apart in a mass on a large-scale landscape forming a fine-textured accent area. Growing best in moist rich soil, it is drought- and wind-resistant, and established plants will survive temperatures to 10-degrees F. or below, in full sun or light shade. Plants grow very slowly in the shade. Click the image to read more!

This stately palm often reaches a size of up to 50 – 60 feet in height but is very slow growing. The Canary Island Date Palm is very impressive with its single, upright, thick trunk, topped with a crown of 8 to 15-foot-long, stiff leaves with extremely sharp spines at their bases. The stalks of inconspicuous flowers are replaced with clusters of one-inch-diameter, orange-yellow, date-like, ornamental fruits which ripen in early summer. The trunk can reach a diameter of four feet and is covered with an attractive, diamond-shaped pattern from old leaf scars. The Canary Island Date Palm should be grown in full sun on fertile, moist soil for best growth but is tolerant of any well-drained soil. It can be planted on the inland side of coastal condominiums and large homes due to moderately high salt-tolerance. Click the image to read more!