Description

Family Poaceae
Originating from Po Tsangpo, Tibet.

• A giant bamboo that is clump-forming, not running or invasive.
• Beautiful powdery blue culms reach 5 or 6cm thick and bear large luscious deep green leaves.
• Evergreen, fast-growing, and easy to grow in most soil types.

The daddy of Borindas. Gracefully arching upwards, towering, and stately blue/grey culms emerge as fat shoots and mature to bear abundant, evergreen, very 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 (KR5600) 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. Its unique qualities are matched by its hardiness, having survived the winter of 2009 in an 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 3 or 4m wide at the base. Its culms do not appear at any distance from the clump. Many of our plants have been removed 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. It formed one of the ‘best seats in the house’ at Urban Jungle Suffolk, in our Exotic Woodland Garden during the heatwave of 2022, when its welcome, cooling shade was cast over our patio during late morning and afternoon. Our gallery image compilation above demonstrates its growth since planting in late 2020 from a single rhizome cutting, taken from a collector’s garden in Cornwall.

Its culms (canes) are the tallest of the family, forming densely packed clumps. Its fat new shoots are covered in thick papery sheaths when they first emerge, with a hairy pink red/colour. 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 most intense brightness. During their first season or two, the whiteness mellows to a silver blue, gradually revealing the turquoise/olive green mature culm. They bear long side branches which cascade elegantly, in contrast to the stiffly upright culm, bearing many large luxuriantly green leaves. They 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. Our clump at Urban Jungle Suffolk experiences cold easterly winter wind which causes a small leaf drop and a slight drying of the leaves, although the clump maintains by far most of its foliage and still looks impressive. In the spring it quickly flushes with new leaves, maintaining its optimum foliage display for 8 or 9 months of the year. We have also found this seasonal performance in an exposed position garden in a specimen near Derby.

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