Phyllostachys aurea Koi - Fishpole Bamboo

Phyllostachys aurea 'Koi' is a variety of bamboo highly appreciated for its beautiful yellow canes, enhanced by a green stripe between the nodes. These fairly thin and upright canes bear persistent light green foliage, giving it a very architectural appearance. This superb, medium-sized bamboo, will be perfect in a contemporary garden or to create a tropical scene, even though it is actually quite hardy. Growing in full sun or partial shade, it adapts to most moist and well-drained soils.                                                 

Originally from China and Japan, this bamboo belongs to the Poaceae family, better known by its former name of Gramineae. Despite its hard stems, which in the tropics can commonly reach heights of 20 or 30m (65ft 7in or 98ft 5in) (and up to 45m (147ft 7n) for a species of Dendrocalamus!), bamboo is a cousin of grasses and cereals, and not a tree. There are over a hundred genera of bamboo, including Phyllostachys, which is widely used in ornamental gardens.

Phyllostachys aurea is a species that forms dense clumps and has shallow and creeping rootstocks. These rootstocks produce straight and resistant canes that can reach 20 to 30m (65ft 7in to 98ft 5in) in their native regions, rarely more than 6 to 10m in our climates. It is characterized by stacked and compressed nodes, sometimes observable at the base of certain canes. These internodal growths are called "tortoise scales". The evergreen, narrow, lanceolate leaves, 17cm (6.7in) long, are grouped in dense clusters along the canes, whose colour varies depending on the variety.
In 'Koi', they are more or less golden yellow in colour depending on the exposure, with green stripes stretching between the nodes. This creates a very nice, decorative contrast of colours (the same contrast, but inverted, can be found in the variety 'Flavescens Inversa'). This creeping bamboo forms a clump of slender canes, with a diameter of 3 to 5cm (1.2 to 2in) and reaching 5 to 8m (16ft 5in to 26ft 2in) in height. Every year, taller canes than those of the previous year are produced and a plant quickly reaches a width of 2.50 to 3m (8ft 2in to 9ft 10in). It is therefore strongly recommended to limit its spread with a robust anti-rhizome barrier, making sure to have it protrude from the ground by 10cm (3.9in) to prevent any crossing. The light green foliage is very dense, giving this bamboo a graceful habit and a beautiful exotic appearance.
This Phyllostachys tolerates most soils, from acidic to limestone (pH 5 to 8), moist, but properly drained. It grows in sunny or partial shade locations, on the edge of large trees for example. While the rootstock is hardy to around -18°C, the foliage can suffer from -12°C, especially if exposed to the wind.

Bamboo is one of those plants capable of creating a distinctive atmosphere on its own. The highly architectural form of these plants makes them excellent subjects in a contemporary garden. 'Koi' will thus constitute a superb green curtain to enhance topiaries, such as Ilex crenata Dark Green, a holly with dark green foliage, which will contrast in terms of both colour and shape. In a Japanese-style garden, Acer palmatum Deshojo, a Japanese Maple with finely cut foliage and colours that change with the seasons, from bright red to orange through reddish green, will create a magnificent scene with this bamboo. To create a "tropical" scene, plant it alongside palms, such as the Dwarf Sabal (Sabal minor), a clump-forming species that creates low tufts with a particularly exotic appearance...