The Ozark Bamboo Garden

Indocalamus tessellatus

Height: 7'

Min Temp: 0ºF

Shade/Sun: Shade

A dwarf bamboo with large dark green leaves. Prefers shade and will tolerate a low light environment. It has the largest leaves of the hardy bamboos. Forming a handsome mound, this plant seems to cascade as it grows. A Chinese native, it grows to three to five feet tall. This is an excellent specimen plant for a shady site.

Pleioblastus chino 'elegantissimus'

Height: 10'

Min Temp: 10ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Shade/Shade

Delicate white lines on leaves

Pleioblastus chino vaginatus variegatus

Height: 6'

Min Temp: 10ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Shade/Shade

Fine variegation on slender leaves

Pleioblastus distichus

Height: 2'

Min Temp: 10ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Sun/Shade

It has small green leaves. They grow between one and two feet tall so are useful as groundcovers. By occasional trimming to the ground, it will stay short, making a good substitute for lawns in shady sites.

Pleioblastus fortunei

Height: 4'

Min Temp: -10ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Sun/Shade

White and green variegation, evergreen in mild winter, would contribute unusual color and texture in a cluster of indoor plants. It will handle low to medium light. Growing to two feet tall, it can provide a bright highlight in a shady spot.

Pleioblastus pygmaeus

Height: 2'

Min Temp: 10ºF

Shade/Sun: Shade

It has short, delicate green leaves. They grow between one and two feet tall so are useful as groundcovers. By occasional trimming to the ground, it will stay short, making a good substitute for lawns in shady sites.

Pleioblastus viridistriatus

Height: 3'

Min Temp: 0ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Sun/Shade

Bright yellow and green striped on new foliage. This is very garden worthy. It is known for its bright spring growth and is a desirable ornamental that remain under three feet.

Sasa palmata

Height: 7'

Min Temp: -5ºF

Shade/Sun: Shade

This has medium height, usually growing between two and five feet tall in Zone 6. It has large palm-like leaves supported on the tips of thin culms. This aggressive grower must be careful sited or contained. It has handsome large leaves and a good choice for low light.

Sasaella masamuneana albostriata

Height: 6'

Min Temp: 0ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Shade

Cream and green variegation, evergreen in mild winters would contribute unusual color and texture in a cluster of indoor plants. With long leaves and bold variegation, this bamboo is outstanding in the fall garden. It has also proven to be very hardy, holding its leaves in the worst winters. At about two feet tall and a moderate spreader, it makes a handsome groundcover.

Shibataea kumasaca

Height: 7'

Min Temp: -10ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Shade

This is a Japanese bamboo that forms a thick hedge up to six feet tall. “Kumasaca” is a Japanese word that literally translates to “field of short bamboo”. Known as the ruscus-leafed bamboo, it has short wide leaves densely born on narrow culms. This is one of the hardiest short species, tolerant of severe cold and wind chill with minimal damage to the leaves. It is good as a short hedge and is evergreen most winters.

Arundinaria gigantea (seedlings)

Height: 10'

Min Temp: -10ºF

Shade/Sun: Full Sun

The bamboo that is most familiar to us is the river cane that is common throughout the Southeast. The river cane and one sub-specie are the only bamboo indigenous to the United States.

Pleioblastus simonii

Height: 20'

Min Temp: 0ºF

Shade/Sun: Sun

This is very garden worthy. It is known for its bright spring growth and is a desirable ornamental can grow over ten feet tall.

Pleioblastus simonii variegatus

Height: 20'

Min Temp: 0ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Sun/Shade

Variable leaves, good container plant, is a striking plant that can grow upwards of five feet in a container. It has both wide and narrow leaves on the same plant, many of which are accented with fine white lines.

Pseudosasa japonica

Height: 18'

Min Temp: 0ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Sun/Shade

This arrow bamboo is a tall variety that can tolerate bright shade. Growing up to sixteen or more feet, the arrow bamboo is a moderate spreader. The culms, which are straight and erect, were used to make arrows in ancient Japan.

Pseudosasa japonica 'Tsutsumiana'

Height: 18'

Min Temp: 0ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Sun/Shade

This cultivar is a handsome, shade-tolerant species. It is said to grow up to eighteen feet, but in Northern Arkansas, it will probably stay under six to eight feet. Known as the Green Onion bamboo, the culms’ internodes swell slightly, giving it an unusual ornamental appearance.

Phyllostachys aureosulcata

Height: 26'

Min Temp: -10ºF

Shade/Sun:Full Sun

This species is often seen in roadside patches is the Yellow Groove bamboo. An exceptionally hardy species, it is often evergreen, wilting in only the worst of winters. In our trials, culms have grown to a height of twenty-five feet and have a diameter of one and one-half inches.

Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'spectabilis'

Height: 26'

Min Temp: -10ºF

Shade/Sun: Full Sun

This cultivar of the yellow bamboo is hardy. It has bright yellow culms with vertical green stripes. It makes a handsome specimen when mature.

Phyllostachys bissetti

Height: 20'

Min Temp: º

Shade/Sun:

This has proven to be the fastest spreader in our trials. A shorter species that grows to about twenty feet, it has small dark green leaves.

Phyllostachys nigra

Height: 30'

Min Temp: 0ºF

Shade/Sun: Sun

This is not quite as hardy but makes an attractive ornamental. Over the course of several months to a year the new green culms turn a handsome black color.

Phyllostachys nuda

Height: 34'

Min Temp: -20ºF

Shade/Sun: Full Sun

One of the hardiest species and can reach heights of over thirty feet.

Phyllostachys rubromarginata

Height: 55'

Min Temp: -5ºF

Shade/Sun: Full Sun

This is a large bamboo tolerant of cold, dry wind. It was the fastest growing bamboo in USDA trials in Zone 8. In colder climates, it has a tendency to form dense clumps before slowly spreading.

Semiarundinaria fastuosa

Height: 30'

Min Temp: -5ºF

Shade/Sun: Full Sun

Is a good choice for a tall bamboo with large leaves and erect culms that can grow up to ten feet or more in a container. It can be kept small by confining the roots to a fourteen inches or smaller pot. It will provide a textured background for flowering plants or look attractive on its own. The canes on this species turn shades of red, providing a pleasing contrast with the dark green leaves. It is important to provide these taller species with ample light. In low light, new shoots will be under developed and unable to support themselves.

Chimonobambusa marmorea variegatus

Height: 6'

Min Temp: 15ºF

Shade/Sun: Part Sun/Shade

This would do well indoors. It requires bright light or a sunny window. It has tightly clustered smaller leaves and should grow to four to five feet in a container.

Chimonobambusa quadrangularis

Height: 25'

Min Temp: 15ºF

Shade/Sun: Sun

This would do well indoors. It requires bright light or a sunny window. It has an upright habit and can grow between six to eight feet in a container. It is an active grower in the fall and winter and will grow best in bright light.

Hibanobambusa tranquillans 'Shiroshima'

Height: 16'

Min Temp: 0ºF

Shade/Sun: Sun

Thought to be a naturally occurring hybrid, this is of Japanese origin. Broad cream bands create stunning leaf variegation, making it desirable for containers or the garden. It has grown to six feet in Zone 6 and tolerates more sun than most short bamboo.