Portions of our Phyllostachys nigra began flowering as of October (2026)
When Leach Botanical Garden in southeast Portland released news that its stand of Phyllostachys nigra (black bamboo) was in bloom, I came to the realization that a prominent location of Lan Su would soon, too, be in bloom. You see, our garden’s black bamboo is planted in our Plaza beside our behemoth 半雲 (Half-Cloud) Taihu stone and it is one of the very first things you see during a visit.
Now our black bamboo is flowering, part of a rare global cycle that occurs roughly once every 120 years. That means these unusual blooms are a once-in-a-lifetime sight for many of us! The last worldwide black bamboo flowering cycle took place between 1904 and 1908. Now, more than a century later, the cycle is happening again.
Meet the Three Friends of Winter (歲寒三友)
Bamboo is one of three plants in our Plaza’s most prominent bed. Our black bamboo, white-flowered Chinese plum, and red pine make up a trio arguably more famous than the Three Musketeers. No shade to the French novelist or multiple movie adaptations, of course, but it’s hard to compete with a 6th-century masterpiece. The trio is known as the Three Friends of Winter (歲寒三友) and although borne from China, the Three Friends have been broadly appreciated as a symbol across East Asia since the 12th century.
The Three Friends of Winter at Lan Su: Plum Blossom, Pine, and Bamboo (2025)
The reason they are called the Three Friends of Winter is because each plant exhibits traits which make them remarkable in winter. The pine’s evergreen needles and upright habit exhibit longevity and strength. The plum tree blooms on bare branches in the cold of January, exhibiting resilience and hope for the new year. The bamboo, with its sturdy canes, bends under the force of wind and snow in winter, yet does not break. It stands for steadfastness, but also moral integrity, as its canes are hollow and it grows up straight.
The Lifecycle of Bamboo
Black bamboo located in Lan Su’s Three Friends of Winter courtyard (2026)
You see, bamboo is actually a very specialized type of grass. Although most grass has an annual lifecycle where it blooms once per year, then dies down in winter, bamboo produces woody stems with each lasting 8-10 years. Therefore, when winter comes, it’s not even phased. The lignin and other chemical compounds like cellulose and hemicellulose within mature canes are what make bamboo physically woody and able to endure winter so well. The leaf of the temperate bamboo also has an amazing adaptation to keep those delicately thin leaves evergreen. Like all grasses, it has parallel veins, but also the addition of veins running at right angles across the width of the leaf to form a grid. This tessellation provides structural reinforcement and prevents the destruction of the leaves in the winter months when sap levels fall (Hardy Bamboos, 2005).
Sans all of its beautiful symbolism and cool botanical traits, the aesthetic appeal alone of bamboo is enough to draw many a gardener to rustle up enough room for a stand of it. There are of course considerations to be made when planting any bamboo. The first and most obvious is: how big can this get in the space? People usually don’t get mad at how tall bamboo grows but how quickly it can grow horizontally. The second and less obvious consideration is: what is the lifecycle for this bamboo and when did it flower last?
I hope you swing by to see this rare sighting take place in the garden!
Josie Losh
Curator of Horticulture
Lan Su Chinese Garden
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