In my previous home in Largo, Florida, the previous owner had planted a clump of giant bamboo of an unknown variety, and twenty some odd years later it was thriving.

I always loved the bamboo, which played host to dozens of bird species throughout the seasons, and were especially beloved by the cardinals, blue jays, flickers and pileated woodpeckers.

I used to love sitting in the evenings by our fire pit, listening to the wind through the trees, and the sounds of the bamboo creaking and knocking into each other . . . it reminded be a little of the lovely sounds of boat rigging in a marina.

The neighbor with whom I shared the border on which the bamboo was located, hated the bamboo, and mercilessly cut down any culms that had the temerity to sprout on his side. I think in the end, though, I convinced him that the bamboo had value, if only because in times of flooding, it sucked up the water in its vicinity pretty quickly.

Being bamboo, it did have its inconvenient moments, such as the time one of the culms chose to sprout inside my greenhouse, but hey - no one's perfect. And it did a whole lot less damage than the raccoon that decided to jump onto the roof of the greenhouse from the top of the bamboo, and wound up crashing through the roof panel instead, leaving a gaping hole in its wake. ;-)

I didn't build much with the bamboo in the end, though we owned the place for seventeen years, but I did do some crafts along the way, including a set of giant wind chimes for a friend. I provided a few clumps for friends who wanted to plant them, and culms for art materials, and I occasionally let a Cambodian neighbor dig a few shoots for her amazing soup, which she was kind enough to share with me.

Now that we're in Tennessee, we're a lot more restricted in which varieties we can grow long term, but there is a guy near Nashville who has collected dozens of varieties, so I'll likely get my starts from him. Like you, I am partial to the clumping timber bamboos, and plan on having several varieties in years to come, hopefully including several colors, and definitely including a couple of the giants. I absolutely love the stuff.

I'm mildly envious of your growing zone, as we're facing nearly a week of freezing nights coming up, and I'm missing my Florida garden and its wealth of species. We were in Zone 6b when we moved here, but the USDA recently regraded us into Zone 7b, so now we have a few more species from which to choose.

Best of luck with your projects. Wishing you peace and prosperity in years to come.

Cori