Links:
Bamboo Sourcery
Bamboo
Bamboo is a great plant that has been given a bad rap in America, mostly
due to people who have planted an invasive running bamboo that has grown
out of control. A great online resource is The
Bamboo Sourcery.
We've recently planted three Bambusa Multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' (pictured
at left). It's got beautiful yellow culms (canes) and nice leaves. It
should reach a height of 20'–25' in several years.
I'm also going to try growing some pot-bound bamboo in the near future.
My current selection is Black Bamboo, but I'm investigating others as
well.
Links:
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Equisetum (technical)
Homeopathy and Properties of Equisetum
I've become quite interested in the plant Equisetum (Horse Tail). It looks similar to a bamboo, but is actually an ancient member of the fern family. I remember first enountering Equisetum as a child on a railroad grading. It prefers damp soil, and is highly invasive. [Don't plant it directly in the ground or you will never get rid of it. You've been warned.]
I've had mixed results with the Equisetum I've planted so far. I tried growing it indoors similar to Lucky Bamboo in a forcing jar, but mold set in on the base of the stems. It appears to need to be in a pot with holes or other entrances, in order to have good water exchange. However, the ones I've grown outside have done fantastic. When I received the initial plant, it was overgrown—the stems had reached between 1-1/2 and 2 feet tall, and had thrown out offshoots. The offshoots consisted of multiple small stalks drooping down from the top of a main stalk.
I thought I had killed it after splitting it, trimming down the dead stalks, and replanting. Sure enough, it came back looking healthy with new stalks.
Links:
Mountain Maples
Wildwood Farm Maples
Fantastic Plants
Following my latest foray into Japanese-influenced gardening, I've become interested in several of the traditional plants used in the Japanese garden. The top of the list is the Japanese Maple. There are hundreds of different cultivars, and I took some time looking into the many kinds. The authoritative reference for Japanese Maples is Japanese Maples by J. D. Vertrees. (I've heard that the second edition is better than the recently expanded third edition—I've only seen the second edition.)
I ended up purchasing the commonly available Acer Pulmatum 'Autropurpureum'. This is one of the maples that is not typically grafted, and is the one most commonly available in the United States. Though not up to par with some of the other cultivars, it is still a beautiful tree.
Unfortunately the location where I wanted to plant my maple gets more of the hot Texas afternoon sun than this delicate tree could handle. It was necessary to relocate it to a shadier spot in my yard. It's doing fine now that I've relocated it as an understory tree under an elm.