Welcome to Plant Delights Nursery at Juniper Level Botanic Gardens. We are a private research and display botanic garden located near Raleigh, North Carolina (USDA Hardiness Zone 7b). Our retail mail order division allows us to make the best perennials from our trials available to gardeners around the world, some of which were developed here, some from our plant explorations, and others from breeders around the world. Between 1988 and 2010, Plant Delights Nursery introduced over 500 new perennial plants to US horticulture. In 2002, we were honored to be recognized by the American Horticulture Society for our lifetime of work in commercial horticulture. This image gallery is but a sampling of the great perennial plants available for gardeners around the world. We do not carry all plants pictured at any one time, but since our mission is to educate and inspire, we hope these images and the linked articles below will expand your garden horizons and interest. You will find an array of other interesting information and fascinating perennials throughout our website...thank you for taking time to visit. 
Bambusa multiplex 'Green Giant'
Clumping Bamboo is a category of bamboo that much more garden friendly than the typical form. A running genus like Phyllostachys will take over your garden and your neighbor's, but a clumping bamboo like the ones that we sell (bambusa, borinda, and fargesia) are well-behaved. Most clumping bamboo are not very cold hardy and are suitable only for semi-tropical sites. However, through extensive trials we have bright to market some clumping bamboos that are perfect for typical southeast US gardens (Zones 6-8). Bamboo is actually a type of ornamental grass but is used in the garden more like a small tree or shrub. Clumping bamboo is deer-resistant and drought-tolerant once established. Gardeners can grow Clumping bamboo as a privacy screen, a specimen plant, a hedge, or in a container. We strongly recommend that you buy clumping bamboo instead of running bamboo for your peace of mind. Plant Delights offers a nice selection of cold-hardy clumping bamboo for sale in the genera bambusa, borinda, and fargesia.
Try combining clumping bamboos with other Asian plants in an Asian themed garden ... Cryptomeria, Buddleia, Lagerstroemia, etc. Site your bamboos so you can appreciate their arching form at a distance or appreciate their smooth, colorful stems (culms) close up. Usually the culms are solid green or yellow in color, but there are some colorful black bamboos as well as several variegated bamboos on the market too.
In addition to contributing to a beautiful garden, bamboo is a useful plant to have around. Every year, you can prune the largest, interior canes to improve air flow around the plant and to remove old, weather-beaten canes. These bamboo cane cuttings have a million and one uses in the garden. You can make many useful home-made products with bamboo canes including tomato cages, plant stakes, fences, screens, furniture, fishing poles and more. In the spring and early summer, young bamboo shoots that are just peeking out of the ground can be harvested, peeled and eaten.
