When is the best time to divide and transplant this species if it shoots in both early spring & late summer??? A couple of weeks ago I divided my clump, which has been in the ground for about 3 years. I moved half the clump, and left the other half in place with minimal disturbance (in case it doesn't take kindly to transplanting!). I knew I was taking a bit of a chance disturbing it this late in the growing season; fortunately the new shoots haven't leafed out much, so I hope it won't be stressed too much. The clump seems healthy and has been growing well, getting a bit taller every year (tallest shoots are now up to about 4-5 feet) so I was surprised to find that the root system was quite small and rather shallow. I'm starting to wonder if (a) this was a good time to move it after all, (b) it will survive the transplanting, and (c) if it was very healthy in the first place.

BTW a visitor who recently moved to the USA from France saw my F. robusta and commented that it did not look at all like the F. robusta he was familiar with; he said the leaves on mine were much too small. I thought of this again when I saw another Fargesia species (F. nitida, I think) in a garden and it looked almost identical to my plant. So... how do I know if I have the real thing or not?

Now that you are amazed I will say that it is better to move the bamboo in early spring before it shoots. For me the Fargesias slow down their growth in the fall and it is more likely to be damaged by water, rotting the roots.

To identify your plant, does it look like the photos of F. robusta on the attached link?

Bill