Fargesia nitida 'Jiuzhaigou'

A  number of seedlings of Fargesia nitida collected over a period of years from Jiuzhaigou Park in Sichuan have given rise to this newly introduced group of non-running clones showing immense promise as garden plants, especially where space is limited. Some  selected clones are identified by number in order to indicate particular characteristics.

All are excellent as specimen plants or for low screens. Very suitable for containers or troughs if of sufficient soil volume.

Their exact characteristics under UK conditions have yet to be fully documented and some plants in circulation  may take time to recover their natural growth habit after being produced in quantity by micro-propagation. However, they are all relatively slow growing, clump forming types with plentiful rather thin canes and small leaves which are  produced in the second year.

The canes are often attractively tinted with red or dark purple, possibly enhanced when growing in a sunny position and various common names have been employed such as "Red Panda" or "Red Fountain Bamboo". It is possible that stem colour may be affected by the degree of exposure to sunlight or by the levels of nutrition so the differences in colour between the various clones are not easy to define.

All are non-running bamboos forming plentiful closely spaced canes.

Growth habit is dense, upright and tidy, making them ideal for screening.

They are very suitable for light shade but appear tolerant of full sun.

All seem hardy but may possibly shed some of their leaves during hard winters, new foliage developing in spring.  

 'Jiuzhaigou 1' ( "Red Panda")  - Upright culms often tinted with red or dark purple. Small leaves.

                            Height 2 to 4m.
                            Has tolerated -20C. 
                           This form is sometimes referred to as "Red Panda"

                            New generation from seed.             

'Jiuzhaigou 2'  - This clone was collected by M. Laferrere and has an upright habit, growing only to about 7 or 8ft.(2.4m), making it ideal for a screen about 2ft. above fence height.

                                  Its culms may sometimes be tinted with red or light brown.

                            New generation from seed.

'Jiuzhaigou' Genf. - Likely to be the tallest clone  but otherwise similar to the other clones.

                                      Its culms are reported to be tinted with red in spring and autumn.

                                Height approx 3 to 5m at maturity.

                                Ideal for a taller  non-running hedge or screen.

                                New generation from seed.

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