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Products > Himalayacalamus hookerianus 'Teague's Blue'
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| Category: Bamboo |
| Family: Poaceae (Gramineae) (Grasses) |
| Origin: Bhutan (Asia) |
| Evergreen: Yes |
| Flower Color: NA |
| Bloomtime: Infrequent |
| Synonyms: [Drepanostachyum falcatum 'New Blue'] |
| Height: 12-20 feet |
| Width: Clumping |
| Exposure: Light Shade/Part Sun |
| Irrigation (H2O Info): Medium Water Needs |
| Winter Hardiness: 10-15° F |
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Himalayacalamus hookerianus 'Teague's Blue' (Blue Bamboo) - This is a robust selection of Blue Bamboo. It forms an attractive clump of upright 1inch wide culms to 15-20+ feet tall with 6 inch long dark green leaves that dangle gracefully. The newly emerging culms are a glaucus blue; this color is retained at the base as the culms age to an olive green. In sunny locations the culms take on a reddish cast on the side facing the sun. Plant in morning sun or light shade in Southern California to full sun further north. Hardy to 15 degrees F. Great for a hedge planting or for large containers. It appears to be especially attractive to gophers, so wire basket protection is advised. Most clones of this bamboo in cultivation flowered continuously through the 1990's and produced an abundance of seedlings that remained smaller than the parent and are marketed as 'New Blue' or 'Blue Baby'. In addition there were seedlings such as this selection, made by San Diego horticulturist Bill Teague, that are more robust. Some contend that this plant is no different than the original Blue Bamboo but we do believe it is different. We make this statement based on seeing 'Teague's Blue' in the Berkeley, CA garden of artist Marcia Donahue and noted that it was notably larger than her plant of the species, which in itself was a nice form of the Blue Bamboo (certainly not a "new blue"). Since there is considerable variability in these seedling plants we feel that it is important that this robust selection has been named to distinguish it from others. We are currently growing 3 forms: a very small selection we call 'Baby Blue', the robust 'Teague's Blue' and one that is in between which we simply label as Himalayacalamus hookerianus. This species was more commonly sold in the U.S. as Drepanostachyum falcatum but plants in cultivation in the U.S. were determined to be Himalayacalamus hookerianus by Kew botanist Chris Stapleton. To confuse matters even more the Candy Stripe Bamboo often sold as Drepanostachyum hookerianum turned out to be Himalayacalamus falconeri 'Damarapa'.
The description above is based on our research and observations of this plant growing in our nursery, in our own garden and in other gardens in the Santa Barbara area. We would appreciate hearing from anyone who has additional information about this plant, even if they disagree with what we have written.
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