SoCal2warm

A correction about basjoo bananas surviving here; that was 2017-2018 an exceptionally mild winter. By contrast, the first half of February 2019 was definitely a colder winter than normal, with an unusual high amount of snow. The basjoo were all killed to the ground, though recovered just fine after that.


(2017-2018 was an exceptionally mild winter on the West Coast, even though that was the same winter those on the East Coast had a devastating freeze that killed many tropicals that had managed to survive for years before that)


Also an update: That Helen's Hybrid on Salt Spring Island (off Vancouver Island) did not survive the 2018-2019 winter.

Which is maybe not that surprising. It was an unusual weather pattern in early February, cold winds from the North/Northeast blew and brought freezing continental air in.

I'm a little bit further south than he was, at the very southern end of the sound, so those winds had to cover the entire length of the sound, passing over water, before they reached here. Which is why the absolute low in Olympia was not any colder than the absolute low in Seattle this year, and why Portland did not get as cold as Olympia, the reverse from the usual order of things.

sirdoofus

Yeah it was a weird year. I have several mildly hardy C. gigantea bamboo (all divisions came from one plant), 3 of which usually die back to the ground, one that hasn't even hardly blinked at winter since I have had it (5 years or so) and this last winter it took a serious beating.

The strange thing about it was we didn't get as cold as in years past, just the timing of the cold was different. And possibly the winds as you suggest. I also think, because our Dec/Jan was so mild, everybody (plants) started thinking spring was here and came out of winter dormancy only to get walloped by an unusually nasty February.

But then again, what the heck do I really know

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SoCal2warm

I have some Madake (Giant Timber bamboo, Phyllostachys bambusoides, not a species commonly grown in cultivation) which is not particularly cold hardy but survived here. I could tell it maybe wasn't the happiest this winter, but managed to hold on to its leaves, and had no problem sending out new growth later.

sirdoofus

Sorry, a little off topic here - bambusoides is an awesome plant!!! There was a fantastic grove near Redmond off the 405 at a nursery, the name of which I am not 100% sure about but might be Rock Mountain Products. I haven't been there for probably 15 years but they used to have a grove with massive Madake - some culms were probably 7-8 inches in diameter, and it was of course very well maintained. I would love to grow it here but I don't think it would reach its potential and its a bit on the edge hardiness-wise. It's slow growing enough in the best situations.......

There is a bamboo enthusiast here in Comox who has a fairly warm microclimate in his immediate area and a lot of his foliage was severely damaged this winter. Most of my plants/groves were fine even though we are in a generally colder area, but I stick mostly with the hardier varieties.... he also blamed the winds.

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doberso

Look up tytaylor, he is east texas zone 8b, he is growing in the region of 75-100 varieties. He could probably give you info on the best performers.

sirdoofus

Good to know, thank you!

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