Find a plant:

OR Browse All Plants


{name}

Sasa veitchii (Kuma bamboo grass, Kuma zasa)

Sasa veitchii Photo/Illustration: Chris Curless



Be the first to rate this plant

Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Botanical Name: Sasa veitchii Common Name: Kuma bamboo grass, Kuma zasa Genus: Sasa
This dwarf bamboo has deep-green leaves that become bicolored with the onset of autumn. The leaves then exhibit straw-colored margins, which persist into spring in warmer zones. It is a striking plant en masse or as groundcover in a woodland garden. It usually grows to 2 or 3 feet tall, but may reach 5 feet tall in deep shade.
 Noteworthy characteristics: These Southeast Asian bamboos thrive in moist, deep woodlands, and thus are at home in shady gardens. Use in both formal and naturalistic plantings: as groundcovers at the base of trees and shrubs, isolated or planted en masse, and next to other plants that contrast and highlight Sasa foliage. 
 Care: Plants may spread by 1 foot per year; curb growth by planting a 2-foot deep barrier around desired area. Grow in rich, moist, well-drained soil in sun to deep shade.
 Propagation: Divide young rhizomes or sections of rhizomes in spring.
 Problems: Slugs, snails.
Height 3 ft. to 6 ft.
Spread Over 30 ft.
Growth Habit Runs
Growth Pace Fast Grower;Invasive/Aggressive Grower
Moisture Medium Moisture
Maintenance Low
Tolerance Frost Tolerant
Characteristics Showy Foliage
Foliage Color Evergreen
Uses Beds and Borders, Ground Covers, Naturalizing, Specimen Plant/ Focal Point
Style Shade, Woodland Garden
Seasonal Interest Winter Interest, Spring Interest, Summer Interest, Fall Interest
Type Grasses

Plants you might also like

Schizachyrium scoparium Schizachyrium scoparium
(Little bluestem, Prairie beard grass) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Little bluestem is a tidy, finely textured clumping grass with a blue-green summer color. Its silvery seed heads rise to a height of nearly 2 feet in late summer and are at their best when backlit in the morning or afternoon sun. In fall, the grass turns a rosy rust color that lasts all winter.
Pennisetum alopecuroides Pennisetum alopecuroides
(Fountain grass) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This species produces 2- to 5-foot-tall mounds of narrow green foliage and bottle brush-like silvery-pink to purple flowers, both of which mature to shades of brown. It is the parent of numerous cultivars with notable flowers that range from purple to gray/black. It and some of its cultivars self-sow plentifully in warm climates. It is marginally hardy in Zone 5.
Pleioblastus variegatus Pleioblastus variegatus
(Dwarf white-stripe) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

Dwarf white-stripe has 5-inch-long, upward-pointing green leaves strongly variegated with white. It grows up to 3 feet tall in either sun or shade, forming a striking contrast to less flamboyant neighbors.
Muhlenbergia lindheimeri Muhlenbergia lindheimeri
(Lindheimer's muhly) Be the first to rate this plant
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

This beautiful warm-season grass produces attractive, pale purplish-gray plumes in autumn and goes dormant in the cold season. It forms a neat, upright clump with fine blue-gray foliage.
Deschampsia cespitosa 'Northern Lights' Deschampsia cespitosa 'Northern Lights'
(Tufted hair grass, Tussock grass) (1 user review)
Hardiness Zones: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

A tuft of thin grassy foliage with gray and gold variegation distinguishes this cultivar. Early summer brings 3-foot-tall, airy plumes of tiny flowers that look beautiful when backlit by the sun. As fall approaches, the foliage turns golden with pink-coral tips. This grass even grows well in shadier sites. Plant in a border, woodland garden, or shaded rock garden.