dont know what type of bamboo it is, but it has small thin leaves is quite
common around the london area, and it has the characteristic of folding its
leaves up very small and very quickly the moment the soil gets at all dry.

my specimens have just flowered and i've just been told that it will now
die. where is the logic in that? does that mean every speciment of this
type will die? i had about five plants in pots in front garden and back
garden and they have all died at the same time.
Funnily enough about two of them still have some very tiny leaves about 20
leaves all told that are still green.

should i hang on to see if they revive or just dispose of them now, which i
would prefer to do if there is no chance of revival for them, since i could
do with the extra room that they now occupy.

thanks for any advice.

In message , johngood_____
writes
dont know what type of bamboo it is, but it has small thin leaves is quite
common around the london area, and it has the characteristic of folding its
leaves up very small and very quickly the moment the soil gets at all dry.

my specimens have just flowered and i've just been told that it will now
die. where is the logic in that? does that mean every speciment of this
type will die? i had about five plants in pots in front garden and back
garden and they have all died at the same time.
Funnily enough about two of them still have some very tiny leaves about 20
leaves all told that are still green.

should i hang on to see if they revive or just dispose of them now, which i
would prefer to do if there is no chance of revival for them, since i could
do with the extra room that they now occupy.

thanks for any advice.


Many plants flower once and then die, including annuals and biennials.
There are a number of perennial plants which are either monocarpic or
have a tendency to monocarpy. Bamboos as a group are well known for
being monocarpic, though I don't know whether this applies to all
species. There is a trade off between producing more seeds, and saving
enough resources to live another year. In the case of bamboos, with
synchronised monocarpy, the advantage of producing more seeds is that
there's too many seeds for seed eating animals to consume, so there's an
improved chance of a seed germinating. Any bamboo plant which "defects"
produces fewer seeds and has less chance of contributing to the next
generation - any compensating seed production that it produces by
flowering in a subsequent year is liable to be eaten, and therefore fail
to actually compensate in terms of contribution to the next generation.

A quick google finds citations that not all bamboos display this
gregarious monocarpy. Unfortunately you need to ascertain which bamboo
you have, and whether it displays this trait.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

johngood_____ writes
dont know what type of bamboo it is, but it has small thin leaves is quite
common around the london area, and it has the characteristic of folding its
leaves up very small and very quickly the moment the soil gets at all dry.

my specimens have just flowered and i've just been told that it will now
die. where is the logic in that?

There's a lot of logic in it. The purpose of the plant is to reproduce
itself (rather than simply to grow). All annuals grow, produce flowers,
produce seeds, die. Biennials grow one year, produce flowers then seed
the next, then die (lettuce bolting is an example). There are many
perennials in which the plantlet which has produced the flower spike
dies, even if the rest of the plant continues.

Animals can do the same. A lot of insects die off as soon as they've
reproduced.

The basic logic is that if there is an unfavourable season (eg cold
winter, hot dry summer), it's a lot easier to survive it in seed form
(or as an egg or chrysalis) than as a growing plant or an adult moving
around.

Other techniques are, of course, bulbs or hibernation.

--
Kay

Stewart Robert Hinsley says...
Many plants flower once and then die, including annuals and biennials.

Would it be worth while collecting any seeds from a gone-
to-seed bamboo and sowing them? Do they need any special
climate or care to germinate?

I saw a huge bamboo clump at some famous country house on
TV that was supposedly very old (may have been 50+ years
but I can't remember) and the head gardener was quite sad
because the clump was flowering and he would lose the lot.

Would any young runners from the parent bamboo also die?
--
David in Normandy.
To e-mail you must include the password FROG on the
subject line, or it will be automatically deleted.

In message , David in
Normandy writes
Stewart Robert Hinsley says...
Many plants flower once and then die, including annuals and biennials.

Would it be worth while collecting any seeds from a gone-
to-seed bamboo and sowing them? Do they need any special
climate or care to germinate?

He'd either succeed or he wouldn't. Advice on germinating bamboo can be
found on the internet, but in addition to the usual caveats about
believing everything you read on the internet, any advice found may not
apply to all species.

I saw a huge bamboo clump at some famous country house on
TV that was supposedly very old (may have been 50+ years
but I can't remember) and the head gardener was quite sad
because the clump was flowering and he would lose the lot.

Would any young runners from the parent bamboo also die?

Some supposedly monocarpic plants (e.g. Agave, Yucca) also reproduce
vegetatively, but the stereotype of the gregariously monocarpic bamboos
is that the whole clump dies. The real life answer may well be that it
depends on the species.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

On 15 Feb, 17:46, Stewart Robert Hinsley
wrote:
In message , David in
Normandy writes

Stewart Robert Hinsley says...
Many plants flower once and then die, including annuals and biennials.

Would it be worth while collecting any seeds from a gone-
to-seed bamboo and sowing them? Do they need any special
climate or care to germinate?

He'd either succeed or he wouldn't. Advice on germinating bamboo can be
found on the internet, but in addition to the usual caveats about
believing everything you read on the internet, any advice found may not
apply to all species.



I saw a huge bamboo clump at some famous country house on
TV that was supposedly very old (may have been 50+ years
but I can't remember) and the head gardener was quite sad
because the clump was flowering and he would lose the lot.

Would any young runners from the parent bamboo also die?

Some supposedly monocarpic plants (e.g. Agave, Yucca) also reproduce
vegetatively, but the stereotype of the gregariously monocarpic bamboos
is that the whole clump dies. The real life answer may well be that it
depends on the species.
--
Stewart Robert Hinsley

I had 3 clumps of Bamboo that flowered 5 or 6 years ago, and I didn't
collect the seed, but the sparrows had a great time.
The clumps died but made a great frame for morning glory for a couple
of years, then last year a small clump appeared , must have been some
seed lying dormant.
Do try to save some seed fromm yours.
As for runners surviving, nothing comes through.Everything dies. They
do say that when a variety flowers it does so all over the world at
the same time. I do know that other clumps in this area, not related
all died.
David Hill
Abacus Nurseries

In article ,
says...
Stewart Robert Hinsley says...
Many plants flower once and then die, including annuals and biennials.

Would it be worth while collecting any seeds from a gone-
to-seed bamboo and sowing them? Do they need any special
climate or care to germinate?

I saw a huge bamboo clump at some famous country house on
TV that was supposedly very old (may have been 50+ years
but I can't remember) and the head gardener was quite sad
because the clump was flowering and he would lose the lot.

Would any young runners from the parent bamboo also die?

In a garden situation the clump does not always die, some small part will
often survive but take years to recover its former size and vigour, the
seed is like sowing any grass, so long as the compost is not water logged
they are easy and it is usually quicker to raise new plants.
--
Charlie Pridham, Gardening in Cornwall
www.roselandhouse.co.uk
Holders of national collections of Clematis viticella cultivars and
Lapageria rosea

"Dave Hill" wrote in message
...
They
do say that when a variety flowers it does so all over the world at
the same time.

Interesting...... I wonder if that's true?

It would be nice if it was.


Stephen