Help my bamboo has flowers!

In 2003 Fargesia nitida started to flower sporadically with little, grass-like spikes.  This happened 130 years after the first introduction of this popular bamboo! We really witness a rare phenomenon. Gradually more and more plants in gardens all over Europe start to flower. Some nurseries have begun to observe the seedlings of the new generation in order to make good selections for the future. 

What should I do?

Only if you want to collect seeds, it makes sense to leave the plant in your garden some more time. If you have  F. nitida in flower and also a flowering F. murieliae, try to cross-pollinate and breed exciting new hybrids! Otherwise replace your flowering Fargesia by a new plant. Within a few years a flowering Fargesia will die. 

A safe alternative is Fargesia 'Jiuzaighou', that is expected to flower somewhere around the year 2100. Fargesia denudata is a young clone as well and will thrive another (human) lifetime.

New selections (clones) of Fargesia seedlings (divisions of a certain individual seedling are called "clones" of that seedling) are plentiful but we are still looking for good clones (most of the many new clones are definitely inferior to the original plant from the past)