About Red Cloud Bamboo

Early memories of wandering through a bamboo grove at Melbourne Botanical Gardens are what first triggered my fascination with bamboo. Ever since, I have been impressed with the strength and beauty of this amazing plant. Living in Melbourne certainly has not been the best place to fulfill my aspiration of this plant.

Magnificent plantings are normally only viewed in far away tropical countries. In fact, bamboo is mostly scorned upon in Melbourne-"it's a horrible weed that takes over the garden" is the belief of most people. 'There must be more to it than that' were my thoughts only a few years ago when my liking of bamboo cropped up again. I jumped on the internet to educate myself on all the aspects of this plant, and quickly realized that this plant was completely unappreciated.

After several more weeks of research I jumped in my van and headed north to where all the bamboo growers are. I filled my van with an assortment of 'very expensive and insignificant' bamboo plants on assurance that they would grow very well. I returned home and repotted all the plants into larger containers and they just sat there all winter with very minimal growth. When September hit, so did my excitement, with shoots popping up everywhere.

After a short time these measly looking things grew into very considerable plants. That was it! I decided to become a bamboo grower/supplier and try to increase Melbourne's quantity of good bamboos.

For twenty three years I have been growing plants for cut flowers on firstly my family's company and the last ten years for my own company (Clarinda Flower Farm). Situated in Heatherton in a 'green belt' surrounded by many wholesale nurseries and only 20 minutes from Melbourne CBD, I realized that these were perfect conditions to begin this venture.

All plants at Red Cloud Bamboo are chosen and tested for their suitability for the local climate .Because of Melbourne's diverse weather, with very hot dry summer days and cold miserable winter days (weeks), many bamboo varieties will struggle to survive. Many varieties that have been recommended to grow happily here have been trial grown and have found not to be suitable. Bamboo is fairly problem free with insects and disease although northern grown plants quite often are infested with mealy bug or bamboo mite which can be a huge problem that is very difficult to control.

Here at Red Cloud Bamboo all plants that are imported from other nurseries are inspected and treated to eliminate any chance of contamination of these pests. Most of our stock has been brought in from northern nurseries because of the difficulty of propagation in this climate.

Plants are immediately potted into larger containers and treated for the shock of transport and differing climate. Plants are then able to acclimatize so there will be less shock to the plant once purchased and replanted.