Bambusa vulgaris 'Vittata'

Painted Bamboo

50' tall, 4" dia culms, hardy to 27° Fahrenheit

Painted bamboo is one of the most cultivated ornamental bamboos in the tropical world. It is an open clumping bamboo with culms spaced a foot or two apart. Its golden yellow culms have vertical green stripes that look as if an artist carefully brushed each stripe on to the culm as decoration. The "buttery" yellow color turns more golden with age.

Bambusa vulgaris 'Vittata' is the most "colorful" giant bamboo we can grow in the Houston area. It is a highly ornamental specimen plant that will make a strong statement in the tropical garden. If the plant is well mulched it can survive even colder winter temperatures. Although it may die back even to ground level, it will usually fully recover when warm weather returns.

New culms shoot in mid-summer and grow fast, attaining full height in less than 60 days. At this time while the culms are growing but not branched out yet, the lower node buds can easily be removed with a sharpe blade to keep the lower trunks leaf free. This exposes the lower part of the culms for best viewing, keeps the 'footprint' small, and opens up the clump for seeing through to the rest of the garden. Culm node buds trimmed at this early stage leave relatively little scarring on the node ring and result in beautifully smooth lower culm trunks.

Painted Bamboo Leaf Inside Painted Bamboo Canopy Bambusa vulgaris Painted new culm shooting