Heavenly bamboo, scientifically known as Nandina domestica, is a lot of things: a native of East Asia, sometimes a popular ornamental and container plant, sometimes an invasive species. As with so many popular plants, its history is often poorly understood and there are a great many myths and misunderstandings about heavenly bamboo and how to best use it in our garden spaces. Never fear, we’re here to help. So join us as we take a Gardzen-style look at Nandina domestica and explore the science of this fascinating plant. Let’s dig in!
TL;DR Summary:
· Heavenly bamboo is a native to Asia
· It should not be confused with “lucky bamboo”, which is the popular name for Dracaena sanderiana
· The deep green foliage, beautiful white flowers, and bright red berries give this plant a wonderful visual appeal
· Heavenly bamboo has a long history as a garden plant, but . . .
· Heavenly bamboo is toxic to both people and animals, and is an invasive species in many areas
· If grown at home, Nandina domestica should be cultivated indoors in containers, with precautions taken to avoid spreading or accidental poisoning. This is especially important for households with pets or small children!
Why is Nandina Domestica Called “Heavenly Bamboo”?
Here at Gardzen we have a fascination with plant names, and this one is especially interesting. Heavenly bamboo is native to Asia, ranging from the foothills of the Himalayas across China and Korea to Japan. The popular name, “heavenly bamboo” derives from one of its names in China. In parts of that country Nandina domestica is known as “南天竹”, romanized as “niantian zhu”, which translates into English as . . . “southern heavenly bamboo”. The words “niantian” were latinized as “Nandina” with “domestica” meaning what you might expect: domesticated by humans.”
Heavenly bamboo is also a study in why using the Latin binomial or “scientific” names for plants is important. Despite its name, heavenly bamboo is not a true bamboo. True bamboos are from the grass family, Poacea, subfamily Babusoideae. Nandina domestica by contrast is in the family Berberidaceae, meaning they’re closely related to the barberry found around the northern hemisphere. So this plant is yet another reminder as to why it’s important we all use the scientific names for plants as much as we can.
Is Heavenly Bamboo a Garden Plant?
This is a tricky question to answer, as the most appropriate response is “yes, but also no”. In ornamental gardens across Asia, Nandina domestica has been used for centuries as a decorative or ornamental landscaping plant. There’s a lot to be said for it in this application: heavenly bamboo is relatively compact, growing between 3 to 9 feet/1-3 meters high. The dark green foliage, showy white and yellow flowers, and resulting bright red berries make for a spectacular display and with the right pruning can add either vertical or horizontal interest into a landscaping space. The plant is both drought and shade tolerant and grows well in a variety of climates.
There are some serious drawbacks to growing heavenly bamboo at home, and these should be given due consideration before adding this plant to your garden space. All parts of Nandina domestica are toxic to humans, livestock, pets, and birds. Birds are especially vulnerable; heavenly bamboo’s berries appear late in the season when food is scare and birds that eat them may die of cyanide poisoning due to naturally occurring compounds within the plant. Due to its prolific fruiting and horizontal spread, heavenly bamboo is also an invasive in many parts of the US and in temperate environments around the world. The combination of these two traits: toxicity to people and animals and aggressive invasiveness, means that Nandina domestica is a plant to be treated with a degree of caution.
This doesn’t mean you can’t grow it at all, but rather some appropriate precautions need to be taken. If you do want to try growing heavenly bamboo at home, it’s best to do so as a container plant in an enclosed space or indoors so that wildlife can’t get access to it and the plant is less likely to spread. Seeds and cuttings should be carefully disposed of—these go int the trash, not the composter! If you have children or pets, exercise appropriate caution and make doubly sure that your little ones or animal friends can’t accidentally ingest any part of heavenly bamboo. So yes, you can grow this plant at home but it does require a bit of preparation and caution, more so than many other houseplant species.
Heavenly Bamboo: A Problematic Beauty
As always, we’ll repeat our mantra: there are no bad plants, just plants growing in the wrong place. Nandina domestica is one of these: beautiful, adaptable, but also toxic and invasive. It’s probably not a good or appropriate choice for an outdoor garden in the US or Canada, but if you’re genuinely curious and willing to take the appropriate steps it could make for an interesting container plant when kept safely indoors. It’s a good lesson in ensuring that we know what plants we’re putting into our garden spaces and making responsible choices in selecting them, and we can all learn from that.
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