One of the neater things I'm growing right now.  Horsetail bamboo, otherwise known as Scouring Rush.  Not the dwarf variety.

Zach

That's a cool bamboo Zach!  I also love the black bamboo variety.

Thanks!  Haven't heard of black bamboo.  I'll have to do a search for it.

Zach

This is Equisetum hymale.  It's not a bamboo, but an ancient type of plant considered a "fern ally" since it has no flowers and reproduces sexually by spores.  I heard somewhere there used to be giant ones that covered the planet and were the precursors to our fossil fuel.

Cool plant though.  We display the regular sized ones in octagon pots in Summer generally for the "cooling" feeling as the main item in the tokonoma.  The dwarf variety works well for display with bonsai.

Just don't let the thing get out of its cage. It is considered extremely invasive

Yeah, we've got places here where the stuff is just all over.  I've neglected the one pictured this year, but it's put on lots of new canes and completely filled the container with roots.  I need to do some cleaning up, maybe I'll have time in a couple of weeks.  Depending on how successful I am, I'll post an updated photo.

Zach