Another recommended tall bamboo is Bambusa membranacea, which can get to 60 feet in the right situation. It makes loose clumps of culms that grow straight as arrows.

A favorite of bamboo lovers in mild areas is Dwarf Buddha’s Belly, a 15-foot gem with a moderate growth rate. It’s hardy only into the upper 20s but slowly recovers from lower temperatures.

At a 3,200-acre facility in rural Virginia, the zoo harvests over 13,000 bamboo stalks a year. The process is ramping up for the new pandas, Bao Li and Qing Bao.

A rare blackstem bamboo blossom has emerged at the Sarah P. Duke Gardens, but it may be hard to catch from the ground without binoculars. This drone footage over the 20-foot-tall bamboo provides a ...