Full sun is best, but mine grows in more shade which may be why it is a bit larger and taller. You may look into some of the other B. mult., or it's varieties, such as Al Karr, which grows to about 20 feet tall here, but can easily be trimmed to any height you desire. I tend to think that a well-drained sandy soil would be best, but I have seen some growing in black gumbo. Plant in a high spot as opposed to a low area where water may stand for long periods of time. I purchased my Golden Goddess online from Gib Cooper, at Tradewinds Bamboo Nursery in Oregon, but there are several bamboo nurseries out there that carry it. I like to plant it after the threat from frost is gone, usually in early March, but it can be transplanted at almost anytime of the year, with varying degrees of success. Early Spring will give the roots/rhizomes a good length of time to develop in their first critical growing season, and remember to keep them watered well during their first season and if you do fertilize, do so very lightly in it's first season. Depending on the size of the plants you receive, sometimes you can divide them into two and maybe three plants each. If not, plant them in the ground, and after a year or two, you can take divisions from them, which will keep your original purchase price down, but will take a bit longer to get thick coverage. I would suggest planting them between 4 and 8 feet apart, depending on how fast and dense of a barrier you want. I like taking a 'before' and 'after' picture so that you can see the difference. Take one of the fence before planting, take one after planting, and then one at the beginning and end of the growing season each year. I always realized that the bamboo grows fast, but I never realized how fast until comparing photos from the beginning of the season to some later on in the Summer...you will be surprised. One other thing, don't expect a whole lot of growth in it's first season, since most of the growing is going on underground. It's second season, and especially in it's third season, you will really see some growth, especially with help from extra waterings and some fertilizer. Good Luck Kt

This is a quote from The Southern Living Gardening Book: "Plants take 2 to 3 years to come into full production but then furnish spears every spring for 10 to 15 years or more. They take up considerable space but do so in a grand manner. Use along a sunny fence or as a background for flowers or vegetables. (You don't have to plant every plant all together. You can scatter them around through ornamental beds and just walk around to harvest.) Set out seedlings or roots (not wilted, no smaller than an adult's hand) in fall or winter. Make trenches 1 ft. wide and 8-10 inches deep. Space them 4 to 6 ft. apart. Heap loose soil enriched with composted manure at bottom of trenches and soak well. Space plants 1 ft. apart, setting them so that tops are 6 to 8 inches below the top of the trench. Spread roots out evenly. Cover with 2 inches of soil and water again. As young plants grow, gradually fill in trench, taking care not to cover growing tips. Soak deeply whenever soil begins to dry out at root depth. Do not harvest spears the first year. The object is to build a big root mass. When plants turn brown in late fall or early winter, cut stems to the ground. The following spring you can cut your first spears; cut only for 4 to 6 weeks or until appearance of thin spears indicates that roots are nearing exhaustion. Then permit plants to grow. Cultivate, feed, and irrigate heavily. The third year you should be able to cut spears for 8 to 10 weeks. Spears are ready to cut when they are 5-8 inches long. Thrust knife down at 45 degree angle to soil; flat cutting may injure adjacent developing spears." "Jersey Knight is the best variety for Southern Growers. Male hybrids typically produce more and larger spears, because they don't put energy into seed production. Such selections still produce an occasional female plant." At my old house, I followed the above instructions and had asparagus there. (I live in East Central MS, about 200 miles inland from the Gulf Coast.) I made a three foot wide raised bed alongside my vegetable garden and planted nothing in it but asparagus. Ever. That is one disadvantage to asparagus and why they are so expensive. You cannot plant anything else in their bed. That soil only produces something edible for 2 to 3 montsh each year. In my youthful ignorance, I bought the typical order of plants, which is 20, and then split them with a friend to save money. Ten plants never produced enough spears at one time to feed my family of four. However, the plants did well, and required very little work except feeding, watering, and giving them a good mulch each year to keep down weeds. If I had space, I would definitely grow them again, but plant AT LEAST 20 roots this time. The Gardening Book says asparagus will grow as far south as the Lower South, which is all the way down except a narrow strip along the coast. Asparagus roots are not that expensive, though you may have to hunt for Jersey Knight. If you want to grow them, do a really good job of preparing the soil and digging the trenches and see what happens. It's not much to lose and you just might succeed!

Sorry you didn't get an answer sooner. I lived just south of New Orleans for most of my life. The soil there was called gumbo and it was dark and crumbly and rich. Here in north MS we have red clay. So I can give you advice about the clay. The best advice I can give is to work the soil (dig, plant) only after a rain. Wait several days and the soil is like chocolate cake, a bit moist and crumbly, but not slimy like pottery making. If it is dry, you actually need a pickaxe to break thru it. The next important thing is to add lots of organic matter to your garden beds. Which the easiest way to do this is to mulch everything with something that breaks down fairly quickly, the best in my opinion is shredded leaves. now is the time to gather these leaves. or in south LA you should have lots of grass clippings. If you can make compost, you can add that as you get it. Another important point: dig your planting holes 2 to 3 times as wide as the plant's root ball (if you are planting a shrub or perennial, for example) and just as deep as the root ball. Break up clumps of clay - if they are a bit moist they will break up easily. If you are not familiar with lasagna gardening you can google that and that is a great way to make raised beds to take care of the clay problem and over time the clay will become more workable. Hope this helps. Clay has many good qualities, I hated it at first, really hated it becoz I missed my great gumbo soil, but I have now become one with it. Laurie

That is a Texas Ratsnake (Pantherophis obsoletus). Very common snake across its range. Completely harmless, unless you happen to be a rodent or a bird!