Good heavens, my bamboo is flowering!!
(flowered 2006)
You may not have heard that bamboo flowers, or if you have, then you may have been told that if this happens, then its all over for your bamboo and it's going to kark it (die). Though this does hold true for some bamboo species - it is not true for all.
The flowering of a bamboo is usually quite an extraordinary event - not because they produce spectacular flowers (quite dull actually) but for the simple reason that it very rarely happens. A bamboo can have one of 3 flowering patterns dependent of genera and species.
The first (and most impressive) pattern is that called gregarious flowering. Many of the big timber bamboos flower in this way. Each species has an inbuilt genetic time clock keeping track of its life cycle which may vary from anywhere between 20 to 120 years. Once a particular species reaches its life expectancy, it will start to flower which is then followed by the development of seeds. A bamboo flowering in this way spends an enormous amount of energy producing the flowers and seeds which usually stresses the plant to such an extent that it will actually die. This, of course, is all part of the bamboos genius plan. A particular species can flower (and die) all over the world at the same time. This happens because all plants originating from a particular source are clones of the mother plant (since bamboo is usually multiplied via cuttings or clump divisions). What this means is that the bamboo that you have just planted in your garden is not actually a young plant (unless grown from seed), rather it could be a 100 year old bamboo. This is the magical phenomenon that is.
(flowered 2005)
Another type of flowering pattern that some bamboo varieties undergo is sporadic flowering. As the name suggests, there is very little pattern to this type of flowering and it seems that it is brought on my environmental factors (such as drought or cold) rather than genetics. Flowering is usually not wide spread but can happen to either singular plants or all of the same species within a localized area. Sporadic flowering rarely results in the production of viable seeds but on the upside, the plants very rarely die after the event.
The third and last flowering cycle is annual flowering. A select few bamboos (usually only some of the Schizostachyums) undergo this type of flowering. A particular species may keep flowering year after year without any effect on the plant itself. Viable seeds are a rarity with this type of flowering but not impossible.
G. Atter cv. Pring Legi
(flowered 2006)
S. Brachycladum Yellow
.