Erik,
Fabulous!
I wish I knew how to slow down the photo progression (before they fade) to have a better look.

What severe sites!
Smaller Trachys look to be really struggling.
What occurs to me is that Trachys seem to exist on rocky outcroppings and ledges.
Could others in more accessible areas have been used for, say, fuel by villagers, or foraged by animals?

Think there was a rhododendron in one frame.
Thanks for posting it.
Still wondering about that "annual" thingy at the end.
Barb

Barb,
if you ever have a lot of time on your hands, you can see all the photos from where John got them (with permission):
http://growingontheedge.net/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=4552
John did not use all the photos, so you can also see the ones he did not use. There is also an extensive and fascinating travelogue where you'll learn about such topics as the modern worship of Kali. There is even a weird digression on cold-hardy oleander of all things. So, not a thread to follow when you are busy planting things! 🙂
Speaking of which, I have four bamboos to go plant.
--Erik

Erik,

Thanks a lot for sharing this file with us, very interesting!!!! You mentioned that you would go and plant some bamboos. Which ones? Do you use mainly clumping ones or intall the running types, too? If yes, how do you contain them? This is one of my fears, though I definitely want to have a couple of large bamboos...

Thanks,
Rob

Speaking of digressions....
My golden bamboo (P. aurea) which has survived the previous two winters died this past winter. 🙁
Here is how it looked in late December:

<a href=" http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/9vVfmbMXWrpXzhVxHyViAQ?feat=embedwebsit e"><img src=" " /></a>

(Note: the Miscanthus behind it look super right now.)

A few bamboo shoots came up about 4'/1 m from the main clump this Spring, which gave me hope, but they passed away last week.

I had planned to wait a year before trying bamboo again. I have a garden area in mind for them, but it has "issues." Mainly, poor drainage. We installed a horse round-pen for training (visible in the background above, plus on my image on the Google Earth thread) and put a bunch of sand in there for footing. Turned out it blocked water flow. To make matters worse, when we back-wash the pool filter, the water goes to the same future garden bed area. And did I mention we have a salt-water pool? I started designing a "Louisiana bayou" garden with bald cypress and the like.
(And lately, with oil. But given that we live over the famous "Glen Pool" of oil from a century ago, not a stretch...)
The W hired day laborers to install drainage last week. Not easy! If you need details on how to solve a difficult drainage problem, ask her. Short version: it is possible, just not easy.

So, I started thinking bamboo again. However, I had already blown the plant budget. That "Bizzy" put me over the top. What to do?

I was saved by stopping for take-out Chinese the other week. I drop by a place called the "Bamboo Garden" because I like the name. 😆
They had four tall bamboos in 5-gallon soy sauce buckets out front. I asked how much. The lady said, "$15."
I countered with, "How much if I buy all four + my usual take order"?
That came to US$55, which fed our family + leftovers (she threw in extra sides) and got me four 5-gallon buckets of bamboo she dug up.

Now, what kind are they? She said, "Chinese lucky bamboo." I can't find that on the taxonomic lists.

Her husband got nervous when he heard I was buying all four. He explained that he dug them from their back yard and they were taking over. He said he didn't want to get in trouble if my neighbors complained in a few years. He seemed seriously anxious. I reassured him by saying I had a 7 acre back yard in a different jurisdiction.

So, what are they? I'm thinking regular old P. aurea. (golden bamboo). Hopefully just more hardy than my last one. But probably not. If they live, they'll be a place-holder until I can get some more cold-hardy bamboo going. At my last house, I did something similar. I dug up some golden bamboo from a friend to give the appearance of a bamboo garden until the nursery-bought P. nigra (black bamboo) got established. I'll plant P. nigra and P. auresulcata from a good local nursery next April.

At least that's the plan.

--Erik

OY-oy-oy, I hear you, Erik, that is really a tough situation though as I heard that bamboos definitely survive everything except for the kitchen training, ending in a bowl of soup....

The Miscanthus is definitely a good accent plant, radiating that Asian feeling and teh bamboos will place a stamp on it. Back in Hungary, we had Phyllostachys glaucescens, growing about 3 m high (about 10 feet) and it spread to about 5 m from its original spot in 25 years!!! It formed a nice grove and was not bare in its originating spot, either. They were best in killing other plants around them, by shedding leaves and shooting up strong canes. If your bamboos will behave like that, you'll have a nice and full screen, with a slightly fountain like appearance.

Erik, you are for sure better read in bamboos than me, but I recently came across a bamboo nursery in Ohio (www.burtonsbamboogarden.com), the owner is Jerry Burton, a very helpful guy. His website offers some extra beautiful species and since you do not have spacing issues ( I guess all of us envy you for that...), you could try some gigantic ones, too, like those growing 50 feet tall!!!!!

I wish you all the best in your planting project, congrats for the draining, and looking forward to seeing your new babies in their final spot.

Rob

Thanks for the link, it was amazing. 😀

Oh Erik, so sorry the bamboo is dead.
But what deal, Chinese take-out and 4 plants!

Sounds like the kind (even with acreage) that you've gotta put a 2-foot collar of sheet metal around the roots to keep it from taking over the place.
You've got years to do that...after it's taken over 2 acres and the horses can't get through it. 😆 😆

I still think a "forest" of bamboo would be fabulous.
But those that have it are hiring backhoes!

Barb