We’re getting things together for our designer garden at the San Francisco Flower and Garden show coming up in March. One of our main themes is edible plants – but low maintenance and water conserving varieties.
We’ll be working with Instant Jungle Nursery in Cotati for both bamboos and a variety of palm that has very tasty fruit. The palm’s fruit taste sort of like Mandarin oranges, only with a large seed in the center.
Young pindo palm at nursery (Butia capitata)
Many bamboos have delicious shoots – forget those pale, tasteless things you get in cans or appear on your plate in an Asian restaurant. As far as we know, they’ll grow with gray water from your washing machine for irrigation. They also provide shade, usable canes and grow quickly – so they suck a lot of carbon out of the atmosphere.
The drawback is that they can be quite invasive, so running types need to be contained with root barriers of some kind. Not only that, but you’ll need to occasionally walk the perimeter to make sure the plants aren’t escaping.
Despite this requirement, bamboos can provide a beautiful screen in a narrow area. The canes should be thinned every year to keep the groves looking airy and light – and to let the new canes develop nicely.
If you’re going to be eating the shoots, they can be blanched with straw so that they stay white.
Selecting bamboo at Instant Jungle Nursery in Cotati
Moso (Phyllostachys heterocycla pubescens), a very tasty variety of bamboo
Edible in this case does not mean boring. This Phyllostachys has nice foliage and beautiful canes. It needs a root barrier for containment, however.
Not all bamboos are edible. This highly ornamental variety, Phyllostachys aureosulcata spectabilis, just isn't for eating. It sure is nice to look at, though.
Another shot of the spectabilis, showing the foliage
This variety, called leopard bamboo for its spots, isn't edible either. It has very nice foliage and makes a great screen.
Black bamboo, another inedible variety, has interesting new shoots.
Timber bamboo growing at the nursery. These varieties are great for places where quick height is desired. The shoots aren't edible, but some varieties such as Bambusa oldhamii are clumpers that don't require root barriers.
