Fargesia murieliae (new selection)

Height: Up to 3 metres

Common Name: Umbrella Bamboo

Ernest Henry Wilson, the intrepid plant-hunter who scoured China for new material, discovered this fountain-like, arching bamboo in 1907. He was so entranced by its thin, graceful culms and fine pea-green leaves held on long stalks that he named it after his daughter, Muriel. The young canes are bright green, aging to deep-green, and finally yellow. It makes a dense, slowly-expanding clump which looks marvellous as a lone specimen, as part of a mixed planting scheme or in a large container ù preferably out of the hot mid-day sun. Exceptionally hardy and somewhat tolerant of wind, it may be used as a screen. We think it looks truly romantic gently weeping by the edge of a pool or stream.

Muriel's bamboo began to flower in the mid-1970s, a rare occurrence (happening every 50 to 100 years) which causes alarm among bamboo-lovers. Flowering often results in the death of the plant. This is especially serious in the case of bamboos, as they flower gregariously, meaning that the entire population of a particular variety may bloom throughout the world, and die. Our Fargesia murieliae is a new generation, grown from seeds that we obtained in Cornwall. We made a rigorous selection of the seedlings, choosing only the strongest plants exhibiting the true characteristics of the species. We use this fresh stock to propagate all our plants, ensuring that they will be safe from fatal flowering for many decades to come.