You can grow bamboo where you live. This exceptionally clear guide deals with the nitty-gritty of bamboo cultivation and propagation and covers about 200 varieties suited to temperate regions. Lots of color photos help identification. Great book. The bamboo in our garden won't stop. Long live bamboo!

-- KK

The Gardener's Guide to Growing Temperate Bamboos
Michael Bell
2000, 159 pages
$25
Timber Press
800/ 327-5680
Amazon

Excerpts:

Those new to bamboos always find it an anomaly that, despite the fact that they are known to be the fastest-growing of plants, they are among the more expensive to buy, and are not available in huge quantities. There is good reason for this, however. The more desirable garden bamboos are, naturally, those that grow slowly at the root and have rapid vertical growth. The slow rate of root growth means that the best one can hope for is that the plant will approximately double its size every year. Therefore, for every plant in a nursery, one can expect to get only one similar-sized division per year, not allowing for any propagation failures or for the plant to increase in size.