Fargesia Black Dragon - Fountain Bamboo

Fargesia Black Dragon is a new non-invasive variety of bamboo that represents an excellent alternative to Phyllostachys nigra, renowned for its slightly invasive nature. With an elegantly airy habit and light foliage, this bamboo reveals beautiful shiny culms that turn black over time. Although relatively modest in stature, it grows vigorously in partial shade or full shade in any type of moist but not waterlogged soil.  Plant it in a pot on the patio, showcase it as a specimen, or create a beautiful small windbreak hedge with this new generation bamboo. Like all Fargesia, it is evergreen and grows quickly in height but spreads slowly over the years without ever becoming invasive. 

The recently introduced (in 2018) Fargesia Black Dragon is an astonishing variety with dark culms whose origins have not yet been discovered. It may be a form derived from the subspecies Fargesia nitida sp Jiuzhaigou (named after the eponymous Chinese nature reserve), characterised by remarkably coloured stems. In any case, it is a plant of the Poaceae family, a type of plant with woody stems that develops from a non-invasive rhizomatous rootstock, known as a tiller. In this type of bamboo, the very short internode rhizomes develop slowly at the periphery of the rootstock, which gradually expands, but they also develop towards the centre of the clump, which always remains very dense without thinning out. Fargesia Black Dragon is hardy, it can withstand temperatures as low as -15°C. It prefers shaded to semi-shaded exposures.

'Black Dragon' forms a somewhat sparse clump at the base, reaching about 2 to 3 m (7 to 10ft) in height at maturity. Its growth is quite rapid, around 20 to 30 cm (8 to 12in) per year, depending on the growing conditions. Ultimately, the plant will spread about 80 cm (32in) to 1m (3ft) on the ground. The culms are upright, straight, slender, with a diameter of 0.3 to 1 cm (0.5in), but sturdy, green in colour when young. Over the months, they take on an almost black colour depending on their exposure to the sun and become shiny.  In the first year, the culms bear only a few leaves. The foliage present on the culms is evergreen in winter, mainly concentrated towards the top of the plant.  The leaves of Fargesia 'Black Dragon' are small, narrow, lanceolate, and tapering at their tips. They are a fairly dark green colour, with a matte finish, forming a striking contrast with the dark color of the culms.

Fargesia Black Dragon, particularly graceful and colourful, is perfect as a standalone clump or in a large pot or container on the balcony or patio. It can also be used, alone or in combination with other Fargesia,  to create a small hedge or a screen. It blends well with a bed of shrubs such as Japanese maples, hydrangeas, and Mahonia. For example, you can plant a Brunnera macrophylla Jack Frost at its base and surround it with robust perennials: Rodgersia, giant hostas, as well as large ferns will also be good companions for this amazing bamboo. To add surprising foliage interest in summer, you can associate it with a viticella-type clematis with red flowers (Madame Julia Correvon, purpurea Plena Elegans, Avant Garde), whose stems will twine around the black culms, their small foliage blending naturally into the vegetation of Black Dragon bamboo.