Ornamental Cane Plants

Golden Cane Palm

• The golden cane palm, also known as the areca palm, is a tropical and sub-tropical plant rated for USDA plant hardiness zones 10 and 11. It is native to Madagascar, which gives it its other name of the Madagascar palm. While it is endangered in its native habitat, it is commonly used as a hedge or shrub planting in other areas of the world.

  While it's possible that mature plants can reach heights of up to 20 feet, they are often much shorter. Long leaves branch out from the cane trunk, and each of those leaves sports dozens of leaflets. The leaves themselves are gold. The golden cane palm develops yellow flowers, from which the seed fruits form.

  Also suited to indoor planting, the cane palm thrives in full sun and moist soil. Those plants that are started indoors are hardy enough to move outside in the proper climates.

Bamboo

• Bamboo, also known as river cane, is an extremely fast-growing evergreen that has a number of uses around the home. In appropriate climates, it can make an excellent screen or natural fence. Smaller versions are used as house and office plants.

  Native types of bamboo grow wild throughout the southeastern United States, and are being explored for the beneficial effects they have on the environment. Ultimate recyclers, they are known for their ability to process large amounts of carbon dioxide. Canes of the bamboo can be harvested for a number of different practical applications, such as creating decorative fencing and craft applications.

  Bamboo is also capable of spreading extremely quickly, and can become an invasive species if the proper precautions are not taken and barriers set up to contain the rhizomes. Thriving in moist soils, bamboo can also thrive in soil conditions not suitable for other plants. Young bamboo plants need shelter from the most extreme of the elements when they are first started, but can create an elegant, tropical screen very quickly.

Cane Reed

• Cane reed is an evergreen type of bamboo that is winter hardy to USDA zone 6, meaning that it can withstand annual winter lows down to -10 degrees Fahrenheit. Stalks can reach mature heights of up to 30 feet, forming dense thickets in moist areas alongside riverbeds and in marshlands throughout the United States' southeast and Midwest.

  The seeds and the stem of the cane reed are edible, and the thick cane reeds have a number of uses, from basket making to creating musical instruments. Roots have even been used as an herbal kidney medicine.

  Thriving in full sun to full shade, the cane reed prefers moist but well-drained soils. Thickets of the cane reed can be a food source for a number of different wild animals and attract birds to the backyard garden.

  New plants should be started in a greenhouse. The cane reed only flowers every few years at irregular intervals, and flowering can kill or severely weaken even firmly established plants. After flowering, cane reed is best left to heal itself.