Fargesia Viking

The Fargesia Viking is an excellent non-invasive bamboo variety selected for its exceptional vigor. It quickly forms dense clumps and has a slight trailing habit creating an umbrella-like shape. Under the mass of its intense, evergreen foliage, young culms first appear violet-blue and quickly turn dark purple before maturing to a brown hue. Viking variety is resistent to -21°C (-5.8 °F). These qualities make it ideal for creating effective hedges or privacy screens; and like all Fargesia species, it slowly spreads over the years without becoming invasive.

The Fargesia Viking belongs to the poaceae family, a type of woody-stemmed grass that grows from a non-invasive rhizomatous rootstock, known as a clump-forming habit. In this type of bamboo, the very short internode rhizomes develop slowly at the periphery of the expanding but dense clump, without becoming bare in the center. Viking is a recent Dutch horticultural hybrid resulting from a cross-breeding between F. murielae 'Wilson' and F. nitida no.1. These plants, native to the Chinese mountains, form dense clumps that can reach 3-4 m (9 ft 10 in-13 ft 1 in) in height, depending on growing conditions. Over time, its habit becomes slightly trailing at the top of the clump. Its prolific growth averages 40-50 cm (15.7-19.7 in) per year as a minimum. Eventually the plant will spread over 2 m (6 ft 7 in) on the ground. The upright culms form a very dense, almost impenetrable vertical screen reaching 2 cm (0 and 0.8 in) in diameter. The evergreen foliage has dark purple culms when young, turning brown when mature. The abundant lanceolate leaves, are distributed on the upper half of the plant, vibrant green green in colour with a satin finish. Older growth will fall throughout the year, especially in autumn.

The Fargesia Viking is a very densely stemmed, fast growing evergreen, perfect for creating a windbreak or effective screen. It integrates well with shrub beds such as conifers, evergreen Prunus, or Japanese maples. Some perennials like large grasses, giant cannas, and tall dahlias (Dahlia imperialis) will also be good companions for this magnificent bamboo. To add surprising foliage interest during the summer, it can be paired, for example, with a viticella-type clematis with red flowers ('Madame Julia Correvon', purpurea 'Plena Elegans', 'Avant-garde') whose stems will twine around the culms, blending their small foliage naturally into the lush vegetation of the Viking bamboo.