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Key characteristics

Family: Poaceae
Height: 24 to 36 inches
Width: 36 to 72 inches
Flower color: Insignificant greenish flowers rarely produced
Foliage color: Broad glossy green leaves developing distinctive creamy white margins in winter
Bloom time: Rare and unpredictable flowering
Light: Full sun to full shade
Water: Moderate
Maintenance: Moderate; older canes can be cut back in late winter to refresh foliage
Growing zone: USDA zones 6 to 9
Wildlife: Provides shelter for small wildlife and birds

Perennials

Sasa veitchii

Kuma Bamboo Grass

Sasa veitchii carries broad, glossy green leaves with a smooth surface and bold parallel veining that creates a lush, layered canopy close to the ground. As winter approaches, the leaf margins develop narrow bands of creamy white that frame each blade with a clear outline. Flowering is infrequent and unpredictable, but when it occurs, slender stems produce small, grasslike blooms during summer before returning to vegetative growth.

Light

Full sun to full shade

Water

Moderate

Bloom time

Rare and unpredictable flowering

Find this plant

Works well in

Borders
Cottage Gardens
Bird Gardens
Cut Flower Gardens

Companion plants

Ferns · Astilbes · Foxgloves · Bergenias · Sedums · Columbines

Design tip

Foliage and form do most of the work here, so lean on texture and repetition rather than one flowering moment. It takes sun or light shade, which makes it useful along the changing light of a bed edge or a partly shaded border.

Printable plant sheet (PDF)