Photograph of Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica) showing its beautiful red berries of autumn and winter.

Photograph of Heavenly Bamboo (Nandina domestica) showing its colorful broadleaf evergreen foliage, which ranges from scarlet red at the top and outer leaves to blue-green, to an olive green toward the bottom of the plant. Stalks and branches are a beautiful scarlet to burgundy red.

© 1998 Michael King

Heavenly Bamboo
Nandina domestica

Nandina is not a true bamboo but a member of the Berberidaceae, or Barberry Family. Its origins are China and Japan. It is a very graceful upright evergreen with color ranging through several shades of green to red at the tops and ends of the foliage. It has reddish stems especially toward the top. Nandina is loaded with berries in autumn and white blossoms in the spring.

Nandina is winter hardy in Zones 6-9, however I have friends in Zone 5 who claim that with a heavy mulch of leaf rakings it survives temperatures below zero and comes back from the roots in the spring. Temperatures in Zone 6 can, at times, drop below 0°F as well. I keep mine well mulched with leaves just in case and it seems to thrive with no other care or feeding. I have had this Nandina for about 10 years. The original stock is about 6 ft. tall. I have propagated it from both seed and root stock cuttings. The seeds take a long time to germinate - up to a year, but with bottom heat and patience, the seeds finally do begin to sprout. It seems to grow about 6 to 8 inches in height each year but will probably not exceed 6 or 7 ft.

There are dwarf varieties of Nandina which will only grow 2 ft tall. They would probably make very good Bonsai specimen, but I prefer the regular variety because it has an upright growth habit and a narrow spread that does not require a lot of space.

These specimens were photographed in my backyard in The Highlands, Louisville, Kentucky, November 1, 1998.

© 1998 Michael King