BAMBUSA. 



THE ENGLISH FLOWER GARDEN. 



BAMBUSA. 443 



established these precautions become un- 

 necessary. 



The plants should only travel during 

 the period when they are at rest. They 

 will be received therefore during the 

 late autumn or winter. If they have 

 come from abroad, the balls of earth 

 round the roots should be thoroughly 

 soaked ; they should then be potted 

 and placed in a cool house for the 

 winter ; the leaves syringed with rain- 

 water twice a day, but the roots should 

 not be kept too wet. In this way many 

 species will keep their leaves as green 

 and fresh as if they had never been dis- 

 turbed ; but even those that lose their 

 leaves will early in February begin to 

 show little fat buds that will soon develop 

 into branchlets. Early in May begin to 

 harden off the plants, as you would 

 Geraniums for bedding out, and, at the 

 end of May, place them in their per- 

 manent homes. 



When you take the plants out of the 

 pots be careful not to disturb the roots 

 in any way. You must not attempt to 

 comb them out as you would the roots 

 of trees, for they are as brittle as glass : 

 place them in the earth as they are, and 

 they will soon find their way about. If 

 possible the newly planted Bamboos 

 should be well watered during growth. It 

 must be remembered that Bamboos will 

 not show their true characteristics for 

 several years. But by taking the above 

 precautions much time will be saved, and 

 many disappointments avoided. For trans- 

 planting Bamboos (from one part of the 

 same garden to another, not for sending 

 them on a journey), May and June are 

 perhaps the best months, though I have 

 moved them without any ill effects during 

 the whole summer up to the end of 

 September. The worst time is from 

 November to March ; for the plants need 

 to have made some roots in their new 

 homes .before they can resist our cold 

 winters and biting winds. As regards 

 propagation, very little need be said here, 

 for I doubt whether the propagation of 

 hardy Bamboos, except by division, is 

 likely to become a successful industry in 

 this -country. 



PROPAGATION BY DIVISION. The 

 best moment for this operation is, in our 

 climate, the latter end of April or May. 

 The process is very simple. The plants 

 should be divided into clumps of two or 

 three culms with their rhizome, in order 

 to insure a new growth from the buds on 

 the internodes of the root-stock. If the 

 tufts can be lifted with a ball of earth, so 

 much the better. They should be planted 



in beds at distances of 2 ft., carefully 

 watered, and protected by a top-dressing 

 of well-rotted cow manure and dead leaves. 

 With the same care they may be planted 

 at once in their permanent homes. 



NATIVES OF THE HIMALAYAS. 



Arundinaria racemosa. This grows 

 about 1 5 feet high in its own country. Stem 

 smooth and round. Internodes about 2 in. 

 apart, leaves 2 to 4 in. in length and 

 narrow, cross veins well defined. After 

 the trying winter of 1895, quite green 

 and fresh at Kew Gardens ; found at 

 an elevation of 12,000 ft. in the N.E. 

 Himalayas. 



A. aristata. A pretty variety 

 of moderate size, with purplish stems 

 and tessellated leaves. This latter 

 quality, also the great altitude at which it 

 is found in the North Eastern Himalayas 

 as high as 11,000 feet above the sea- 

 level indicates it as a hardy Bamboo. 



A. spathiflora. Another hardy Bamboo 

 with tessellated leaves, from the Hima- 

 layas, where it is found at an altitude of 

 9,000 feet. Most of the specimens which 



1 have seen grown under this name in 

 English gardens are not the true A. 

 spathiflora. ' A.falcata and A. Falconeri, 

 though fine kinds in their native country, 

 are not quite hardy in ours. 



NATIVES OF CHINA AND JAPAN. 



A. Fortune!. Three plants of no rela- 

 tionship to one another are at present the 

 bearers of this name, respectively green, 

 silver variegated, and golden variegated. 

 As there is absolutely no similarity be- 

 tween them, I have re-named two of them 

 humilis and auricoma, leaving the name 

 Fortunei to the silver-striped species 

 which has the prior claim to the title. 



A. humilis. A green species, about 



2 ft. to 3 ft. high, with round and green 

 stem, bright evergreen leaves smooth on 

 both sides, 4^ in. long, three-quarters 

 of an inch broad, and tapering to a 

 point. A very pretty plant to form a car- 

 pet, or isolated group near rocks. Syn. 

 B ambus a gracilis. 



A. Fortunei fol. var. A silvery- 

 variegated dwarf Bamboo about 3 ft. 

 high. Leaves about 5 in. long, by 

 half or at most three-quarters of an inch 

 wide ; a bright colour beautifully striated 

 with white in a young state, but the 

 variegation is apt to fade in the older 

 leaves, which become rather spotty. A 

 strong runner at the roots. 



A. auricoma. A golden variegated 

 dwarf Bamboo, taller than the two pre- 

 ceding sorts. Leaves striped with bright 



