A few years ago, we decided to dig up a little bamboo that had been tucked away under two groves of timber bamboo. Consequently this unfortunate little bamboo was doing poorly. It preferred full sun and was getting none. Some at the nursery wanted to scrap this plant and considered it ugly and unworthy. A few of us wanted to take a chance, pot it up and see what would happen. We did just that and pots have been hidden away in wood-chip piles and forgotten corners of the nursery for a good two years. We would run across them and utter "What are these?" flip over the tag and say, "Oh yeah! I remember this plant."

Well, we now admit our shortsightedness. The ugly duckling has metamorphosed. We are pleased to reintroduce Arundinari, a v. 'Macon' clone. Commonly called Macon Rivercane, this is one of three original bamboos that were native in the United States. It was prevalent from the Southeastern U.S. north to Ohio and Indiana. Runaway slaves would take cover in the bamboo, and native Americans would hunt wild animals that lived in the groves. Farmers would also drive their livestock into the thickets to protect them from severe winter cold.

Canebrake was almost eradicated at one point due to flowering, clear cutting and over grazing. Slowly it has made a comeback. Macon Rivercane is a tough and durable bamboo that is cold hardy and evergreen to Ð22o. Fortunately we have never had to put it to that kind of test here in the Pacific Northwest. In an extreme cold winter we do not know if it will have leaf damage. (Anyone want to test it?) The plant itself should fair quite well and any leaves damaged would be replaced in the spring when the leaves are refreshed.

Macon Rivercane will only achieve a height of about six to eight feet. Thus it is a perfect low screening plant that will tolerate full sun. Until now, all we could offer for these conditions were somewhat shorter dwarf bamboos, not quite tall enough to do the job. The graceful clumping bamboos don't grow too tall, but they want a lot more shade and are considerably more expensive.

If you like the idea of a native American plant that provides an upright, low screen, in full sun, Macon Rivercane is your plant!

Other Attention Grabbers. Another great introduction this year is a dwarf bamboo, Pleioblastus kongosanensis aureostriatus. The culms (canes) are velvety soft much like the young P. heterocycla cv pubescens (MOSO). The leaves are similar to the very popular Pl. viridistriatus in that the underside of the leaves is downy soft like a baby's bottom. Leaves are rich green with occasional gold stripes somewhat the opposite of viridistriatus.

Normally we don't suggest mixing varieties, but we think that these two might make an interesting showing. The kongosanensis like the viridistriatus is not overly aggressive and would fill in at about the same rate. It grows to the same height, around three to five feet. Clipped back early spring and grown in the shade, it will stay at or around three feet and retain its rich saturated color. Grown in the sun, it will grow taller and the colors will be more brilliant, the gold's more yellow and the greens more chartreuse.

Although we have carried Phyllostachys bambusoidies 'Castillon' for quite some time, we never had enough of them to offer at a reasonable price. This year we have a good supply of this spectacular plant. It looks good as a hedge or small clump.