Description:

Fargesia murielae is a well-behaved, bamboo which over time can form a dense clump several feet in diameter (can easily be maintained to a smaller area).  The slender culms, reach about 15’ high, bending gracefully under masses of fine-textured foliage, giving it the elegant, weeping shape from which it derives the common name, Umbrella Bamboo.  If you are looking for a stunning specimen for a full shade area of your garden, this is it!  It thrives in moist, organic, slightly acid soils in full shade, and is hardy to -20 degrees F.

Planting History:

I purchased a plant from a local nursery in September 2003, took several divisions from it, and planted one of the propagations in the shade of a north facing wall, spring 2004.  It wasn’t very attractive over winter 2003/04, having severe leaf tip burn, but did finally put out new shoots and fresh, green leaves during summer 2004. This plant is definately not drought tolerant, requiring weekly (or more) watering to prevent leaf curl, even in full shade.  In 2005, it produced many new shoots about 4' tall.  The new culms do not fully leaf out until the following year adn it starts its "deciduous" phase in late September - by November fully 50 percent of the foliage is yellowed.