Lucky Bamboo Smiles Upon Us

You've probably seen stalks of "Lucky Bamboo" growing in vases of water in your local grocery store or plant market.  The plant promises to bring luck to your home.  More often than not, these plants die quickly because they come with little information on plant care and misleading information about the plant.  "Lucky Bamboo" is not actually bamboo at all; nor is it from Japan.  While the resemblance to bamboo is striking, this plant is actually in the dracaena family.  Dracaena, from the Ancient Greek for "female dragon", is a species of about 40 trees and succulent shrubs.  The latin name of this species is dracaena sanderiana and it is native to Cameroon, Africa.  It grows as understory in dense tropical rainforests.  I received a tiny stalk as a gift years ago and nurtured it until it grew to the size you see below.  I am told I must be very lucky and I can't deny that it's true.

Lucky bamboo can be grown in water, provided you change the water weekly and add nutrients periodically.  It can also grow in soil.  My Dracaena has an aversion to direct sunlight.  I kept it in a dark corner of my home and have just moved it outside.  The pillar will provide some shade and I am hoping that it does will in my balcony garden.  If the leaves begin to scorch, I will have to move it back inside.  While my lucky bamboo has grown to a phenomenal 7' high tree, it does not have the strength of bamboo and will collapse if not not braced.  Tying it to a stake is the most common solution for this.  I have chosen to tie it to a string hanging from a ceiling hook, simply because I did not have a 7' pole lying around.