Spring Mulch Before Week of Freezing Temps

I got around and mulched the utility box bed and the west side yard (aka wet shade side), and I had a little bit of mulch left to go around my green panda bamboo, which survived another winter but had some dead tips I trimmed off.

I have crocus about to open - if we had another 24 hours above freezing I think it would open, but we have about a week of freezing temps upon us. It's a high of 34ºF today and low of 14 tonight, so it's not feeling much like spring at all.

I wanted to show my spring mulch and clean up a bit, these will hopefully make some great "before" pictures for later this season. I also wanted to show what my Gladiator allium look like first emerging. I think we got 5 out of 6 to come up, with one MIA.

Crocus about to open up! If only we had one more day of warm temps!

Day before a hard freeze, don't expect these guys to stick around unfortunately

My favorite mystery sedum and an emerging Gladiator allium

Gladiator allium poking through

Green panda hardy clumping bamboo with a new haircut

Coral bell in a rabbit cage

Side yard looking pretty barren, I could use some structural plants

Coral bell that the rabbits nibbled down to a nub is coming back with protection. Notice the Japanese andromeda staying green all winter and already flowering. You the real MVP!

Utility box bed. Not sure if the Gaura are going to come back, so I'm devising some plans for what else I could put up here. 

Hosta eye checking things out, trying to see if it's safe to come up yet (hint: it's not). 

What's Waking Up? March 23, 2016

Here in Noblesville, Indiana I've got lots of sleepy plants just barely waking up for Spring. Here's a photo tour of what's going on... if you just glance at my yard from the sidewalk you'd miss it, but if you get down on your knees you can definitely see things happening. I'm "that guy" walking around my yard with my iPhone taking pictures of mulch...

Hosta 'Blue Mouse Ears' survived the winter after being planted later in the season last year (September). Can you see the eyes? No? It took me a little while to find them myself. Ok, I'll admit I dug down a bit to spot them and then covered them back up again to keep them warm.

'Wee One' dwarf lavender with new green on old pale blue stems

Lots of new and thick looking culms growing from my 'Green Panda' bamboo Fargesia rufa

Hosta 'Patriot' going strong, still a good 2 weeks ahead of last year

'Annabelle' hydrangea waking up with green coming out of plump buds. They will form new growth and bloom on new wood this summer - but I am trying something different this year by leaving more old growth above ground instead of cutting them down to the ground completely.

Purple cone flower 'Prairie Splendor' by the utility boxes - this is the one that had a disease or something last year, it never formed real blooms and it got all wonky looking. I was kinda hoping it would come back normal this year if the disease died off over the winter. On second thought, based on photos, it looks like this one has Aster Yellows disease and I should rip it out before it spreads to anything else. Sorry little guy!

Shasta daisy Leucanthemum × superbum 'Becky' coming back after being transplanted in July

Is Green Panda Bamboo Evergreen in My Zone?

The Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda' bamboo that I transplanted outside this Spring is going strong, and is holding its deep green color. It's almost December! I'm wondering if this green panda is supposed to be evergreen in my zone 6a here in central Indiana.

Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda' looking very green on November 29, 2015 in Zone 6a

Every source I can find says that it is indeed cold hardy to zone 5, but I haven't seen anything about it being evergreen. It's certainly doing better than my Japanese painted fern that took a poop at the first snowfall!

Japanese painted fern - Athyrium nipponicum 'Pictum' - decidedly not of the evergreen persuasion

Green Panda Bamboo Bushy Growth and Tall Stalks

My Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda' bamboo hasn't put on much vertical growth. When I first took it out of the box it was about 13 inches tall, now it's closer to 15 inches tall - but one of the more noticeable areas of growth is a lower bushy section near the base of the stalks. When I first got it, it had none of these.

Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda' only putting on a few inches up top this Spring but lots of bushy growth below

This bushy growth below with just a handful of longer stalks rising above the undergrowth resembles an older specimen I saw at a local nursery. Below, this Fargesia rufa in a 5 gallon pot has lots of bushiness and just a few stalks rising upward in the middle.

Fargesia rufa - an older specimen of this bamboo has a similar growth habit with bushy growth below and stalks rising upward, and sort of a gap in the middle.

Compare this to when my Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda' showed up in the mail and had no bushy growth at all, just a few stalks hanging on for dear life...

Releasing a Green Panda (Bamboo) into the Wild

I ordered this Green Panda bamboo [Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda'] online from Amazon. It came in the mail in the dead of winter, but survived and was growing on my windowsill all winter. Now it's spring time and time to say goodbye - I have to release my baby green panda to the wild - by putting it in my side yard.

Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda'

This side yard gets about 2 hours a day of direct sunlight and the rest is completely shaded by the houses. I consider it partial/full shade but not super deep dark shade because these are 1-story houses with light colored siding that still provides ambient light.

This green panda bamboo should get to be 6-8 feet tall, and tolerate grooming to become a little fountain of bamboo coming off the side of my house and complimenting the Asian-ish look of the rocks and Japanese maple tree.

Still very young Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda'

It's only about 14 inches tall right now, but hopefully will put on some growth this summer. I hear it grows super fast. In the pot it was putting out a new leaf a week on each of the stalks. I guess that's pretty fast.

Here's a baby photo of my green panda the day it arrived

Bamboo by Mail, Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda'

I was looking for a partial shade plant tall enough to hide my air conditioning unit, and I kept hearing great things about 'Green Panda' bamboo [Fargesia rufa 'Green Panda']. In fact, some websites go as far to say this is the ONLY clumping bamboo that is hardy and appropriate in Indiana. Well ok then!

Doing some research, it looks like 'Green Panda' is actually an individual specimen of Fargesia rufa. Not a genetic variety, but a specific plant that is being propagated and sold worldwide for its "exceptional vigor and beauty." So I'm not sure if the one I got is actually the same one trademarked by Jan Oprins of Bamboo Select in Belgium - nevertheless the name 'Green Panda' is being used to market it.



This 'Green Panda' I got on Amazon, sold by Hirt's Gardens. This is my second time getting a plant by mail (See also: Bonsai by Mail, Golden Gate Ficus), and I like to learn about how the plants are packaged and photograph the unboxing.

My bamboo arrived in the mailbox, and unfortunately had to sit outside in 5°F temps until I got home from work!

It arrived kinda scrunched over completely packed in foam peanuts

Very clever! It looks like they included a heating pack to try to keep it warm during shipping. Unfortunately when I opened the box the heat pack was frozen solid. Oh well, the bamboo SHOULD be hardy to -15°F so fingers crossed!

If it's not really 'Green Panda' they are definitely using the marketing. Who knows, I'll give them the benefit of the doubt.

The soil was frozen solid so I ran it under cold water to thaw. Then I read on Dave's Garden that brown tips means it's over-watered so they must have soaked it right before shipping or had it growing damp the whole time.

Bamboo stems are called 'culms' and emerge at their full diameter unlike tree trunks that get wider over time. These currently range in size from thick mechanical pencil lead up to about the size of pen ink cartridges.

My Green Panda will get bright sun in the morning and ambient light all day. Hopefully I'll be able to stick it in the ground in a few months! If this thing gets 8 feet tall it'll be nice to have baby photos like this since it is currently only 13 inches haha!