Bamboo Triumphant

Last year I undertook a bamboo eradication effort after my clump of black bamboo (Phyllostachys nigra) escaped its small, isolated bed between the house and the alley, finding its way through 10 feet / 3m of compressed gravel, cement, retaining walls, building foundation, and pavers, and starting to overrun the shady driveway border. The effort took a pickaxe and dozens of hours of labor, with me digging down 4 feet / 1.33m and rooting out dozens of thick, ropy rhizomes. Despite this effort, I missed a bit and a seven-cane clump of bamboo sprang back last summer and grew to nearly twice the height of the house. I undertook a second effort and removed that as well, locating it to another spot in the yard. I thought I was finally done, but no. Nooooooo:

The seemingly peaceful, unsuspecting, and black-bamboo-free shady driveway border, which last year was overrun with unwanted black bamboo shoots:

 

And lurking behind it, a huge 2" / 5cm wide shoot has pushed its way up through the retaining wall! It grew to this height in about four days. I first noticed it after it knocked over a potted plant in the process of emerging. Behind the shoots is a heavy piece of cement which the shoot just brushed aside.  







At the base of the retaining wall is a small area in pavers where I access the hose bib and sometimes store potted plants. Two more equally large shoots have pushed aside a few pavers. There are a few other lumps in the paved area, so I suspect more bamboo drama awaits.

More pickaxe work is clearly in my near future. Alas.



Bloom Day: May 2015

Slightly belated bloom day posting due to work and travel. A few noteworthy blooms appropriate to May, starting with a staple of Northwest gardens, the hybrid rhododendron. This is Rhododendron 'Lee's Dark Purple,' but I find it to be only a medium purple:

 



It's the beginning of verbena season. Here are the first Verbena bonariensis blooms peeking through Brachyglottis greyi. The flowers will continue for several months until frost.

 



The interesting, tiny flowers of Helwingia chinensis 'Narrow Leaf Form' appear on the middle of the leaves. The adjective for this is epiphyllous.

 



Another May staple of Northwest gardens, Allium 'Purple Sensation'. I usually have a dozen or more stalks each spring, but this year I sadly only have one. The mild winter was strangely hard on most of my bulb and tuber plants.

 



More to come in June. Enjoy your spring!