Description

Family Poaceae
Originating from Tibet.

• A tall upright, very hardy bamboo that is clump-forming, not running or invasive.
• Beautiful powdery white/silver/blue culms reach 4 or 5cm thick and bear luscious deep green leaves.
• Evergreen, fast-growing, and easy to grow in most soil types.

Probably the hardiest of all the Borindas. Stiffly upright, towering, and strikingly bright culms emerge as fat shoots and mature to bear abundant, evergreen, large beautifully deep green lustrous leaves, cascading on slender branches. This precious bamboo is rare and much sought after. We have been entrusted with its propagation and hence its availability to gardeners by collectors and former nurserymen. This collection (KR6243) was collected by Keith Rushforth in Tibet and with reference to his original collection notes we are able to specify its original location and elevation – and hence its hardiness, to our customers. It is not aesthetically distinguishable for horticultural purposes from the two other collections (KR5950 and 5050) we stock, and so are offered to our customers as simply B. macclureana, although we have collection numbers recorded for collectors or botanists if you require a particular one. Its unique qualities are matched by its hardiness, having survived the winter of 2009 in an extremely exposed position, at a high elevation near the Welsh border, where ice formed over the ground for several weeks.

Growing from a pachymorph rhizome, it does not run invasively, although it will gradually make a clump up to 4m wide at the base. Its culms do not appear at any distance from the clump. Many of our plants have been taken from mature plants, as rhizome cuttings, so we have seen firsthand how steady and predictable its spread is, and also how easy it is to manage if required. Its spectacular growth can be enjoyed without fear and the benefits of its shade, shelter, and screening properties can be utilised even in smaller gardens.

Its culms (canes), form densely packed clumps, and its fat new shoots are covered in thick papery sheaths, with strikingly dull red and purple hues when they first emerge. As the shoot hardens off (they are extremely brittle when young) the sheaths fall, and the white powdery bloom covering the new culm can be enjoyed at its brightest. During their first season or two, the whiteness mellows to a silver blue, gradually revealing the turquoise/olive green mature culm. They bear long purple coloured side branches which cascade elegantly, in contrast to the stiffly upright culm, bearing many large luxuriantly green leaves. The abundance of foliage causes the long branches to weep, making foxtail-like plumes under the sheer weight of the leaves, which are covered in minute hairs and appear to have subtly different shades of green along their length, giving them a unique richness of colour.

Easy to grow in all but thin poor soil or very heavy stiff clay. It will grow happily in an exposed position, experiencing strong and cold winds, however, its foliage maintains its best condition during the winter in an open and sunny, sheltered woodland position.

Height and spread after 5 – 10 years 8m x 3m.