Shrub · Berberidaceae
Heavenly Bamboo
Nandina domestica
Forgiving, drought-proof, and glowing in winter, nandina is easy to love, though its berries are poison to wildlife.
Full sun
Every 7–14 days
USDA 6–9
3–8 ft · 0.9–2.4 m
Overview
Take a breath, because heavenly bamboo is friendlier than its name suggests, and it isn't a bamboo at all. Nandina is an upright, cane-forming evergreen shrub in the barberry family, dressed in airy compound leaves on slender stems that only pass for bamboo from across the yard. As the weather cools it warms into reds and purples, then holds bright berries through the hardest part of winter.
You really can grow this one. Nandina takes heat, drought, and poor soil in stride once it has settled in, welcomes anything from full sun to deep shade, and rides out cold as low as -9°F (-23°C). Pests and deer tend to pass it by, which is a comfort for a first-time gardener and also part of why it spread so widely across southern yards.
That easygoing nature comes with one thing to respect. The whole plant, and the berries most of all, holds cyanide-releasing compounds that harm animals and people, and birds that gorge on the fruit can die from it. Nandina can also slip out of the garden and turn invasive across the Southeast, so where you plant it and whether you let it fruit matter every bit as much as how you tend it.
Care
The short version: settle it into full sun to part shade in almost any well-drained soil, keep it watered through that first season and then mostly leave it be, and renew a few of the oldest canes each late winter so it stays full and happy.
Light
Nandina is happy in almost any light, from full sun to deep shade, so don't fret over placement too much. That said, sun is what draws out the red and purple winter color, and a plant tucked deep in shade will stay green and a little flat even while it grows just fine.
Water
Offer it regular water through the first season while the roots find their footing, then you can relax and ease off. Once it's established it is truly drought tolerant and only wants a drink during a long dry stretch, roughly every 7 to 14 days when it's hot.
Soil
This shrub is easy about soil, settling happily into clay, loam, or sand as long as it drains. It copes with a wonderfully wide pH range, from 5.0 to 8.5, so most garden ground suits it with no trouble at all.
Temperature
Nandina is cold-hardy down to about -9°F (-23°C) and takes heat up to 100°F (38°C) in its stride. That generous tolerance is exactly why it does so well across USDA zones 6 to 9 without any fussing on your part.
Humidity
Outdoor air is all this plant asks for, so there's no humidity number to worry about. It handles humid southern summers and drier spells alike, which is one less thing on your plate.
Feeding
Nandina is a light feeder that gets by on almost nothing, so you can breathe easy here. A single balanced slow-release shrub fertilizer in spring is plenty, and many plants are perfectly content with none.
Pruning
Prune in late winter by cane, cutting individual stems at different heights just above a node so the shrub fills out instead of thinning up top. Take out a few of the thickest, oldest canes at the base each year to keep it renewed, since the flowers and fruit form on fresh new growth.
Repotting
Nandina is mostly a landscape shrub, but a container plant will thank you for a fresh, larger pot every 2 to 3 years. Repot when you notice roots circling, water running straight through, or growth slowing down.
Size & spacing
Look for a mature shrub around 3 to 8 feet (91 to 244 cm) tall and 2 to 5 feet (61 to 152 cm) wide. Give each plant a little room to reach that spread, or simply plan to keep it tidy with regular cane pruning.
When to plant
Nandina is a gentle, forgiving shrub to get in the ground, going in during spring or fall while the soil is workable and the weather stays mild. It flowers in late spring, and the red berries follow in fall and keep you company through the cold months.
Northern hemisphere
Southern hemisphere
Typical months for a temperate climate: start earlier in warm zones, later where spring frosts linger.
- Plant: spring or fall
- Harvest: Flowers in late spring; bright red berries develop in fall and persist through winter.
Hardiness
USDA hardiness zones: 6–9
Temperature: down to -23°C
Troubleshooting
Nandina is one of the more forgiving shrubs you can grow, and nearly all of its little troubles trace back to how it's pruned, how much light it gets, or how far it wanders. Catch the early signs below and you can gently set the shape, the color, or the stray seedlings right before anything gets away from you.
New little plants turning up far from the parent shrub
When seedlings show up well beyond the original plant, that is nandina living up to its invasive reputation, and it happens in two ways together. Birds carry the berries off and drop the seed at a distance, while underground rhizomes and stray root pieces resprout right near the base. You can stay ahead of it kindly by clipping the berry clusters before they ripen, digging out each seedling and root fragment, and reaching for sterile, non-fruiting types or native shrubs where you can.
Fix:
- Remove berry clusters before they ripen to limit bird dispersal
- Dig out seedlings and rhizomes, removing all root fragments
- Replace with sterile, non-fruiting cultivars or native alternatives
Open, bare lower canes with leaves only up top
Don't worry if your shrub starts looking thin and woody at the bottom after a few unpruned years, because this is just nandina's natural cane habit showing, and deep shade only nudges it along. You can bring the fullness right back with a gentle renewal in late winter, taking about a third of the oldest, thickest canes down to the ground and shortening the rest to different heights above a node. If it's a potted plant sitting in the dark, simply moving it somewhere brighter helps it fill in again.
Fix:
- Cut about one-third of the oldest, thickest canes to the ground in late winter
- Head back remaining canes at varying heights just above a node to encourage branching
- Move container plants to a sunnier spot if heavily shaded
Leaves staying green instead of turning red for the season
If your nandina stays plain green or bluish-green while the cold sets in, take heart, because it just needs more light to reveal its lovely purplish-red tones. Give it a sunnier home or gently thin whatever hangs overhead, and that seasonal warmth returns on its own. A spot with full sun to a little shade rewards you with the deepest color.
Fix:
- Relocate or plant in a position receiving more direct sun
- Thin overhead shade where practical
Toxicity
Please treat the whole plant as poison, and know that is the one firm rule with an otherwise easy shrub. Every part of nandina, and the berries above all, holds compounds that release cyanide when chewed or digested, and there is no safe amount for a pet, a child, or grazing livestock. The berries are especially deadly to birds, so keep animals away and think carefully before letting the shrub fruit at all.
Toxic to
Cats · Dogs · Horses · Rabbits · Livestock · Birds · People
Cats Severe
If a cat has chewed the leaves or berries, you may see it grow weak and wobbly on its feet within a few hours. Keep an eye out for drooling, a heartbeat that races and then slows, seizures, and hard breathing, and get to a vet right away, since these point to cyanide poisoning.
Dogs Severe
A dog that has gnawed the foliage or swallowed berries can start to stagger, vomit, and tire out fast as the cyanide takes hold. Trembling, collapse, and trouble breathing may come on soon after, so please treat any suspected mouthful as an emergency.
Horses Severe
The cyanide is very hard on a horse. You might notice bright red gums, fast breathing that slides into gasping, muscle tremors, and a sudden collapse before long after grazing, and it turns fatal without prompt help.
Rabbits Severe
Rabbits are so small that even a tiny nibble is a real danger. Look for weakness, a hunched and quiet posture, breathing trouble, and a fast slide downhill, so keep the plant safely out of their reach.
Livestock Severe
Cattle, goats, and sheep that browse on nandina can go down quickly from the cyanide. Watch for staggering, labored or gasping breaths, frothing, and collapse, which can arrive with little warning before the animal is in real trouble.
Birds Severe
Birds are in the most danger of all here. Cedar waxwings and others that gorge on the winter berries die of sudden cyanide poisoning and are often found gone with internal bleeding and no warning at all, and one heavy feeding can take a whole flock.
People Caution
No part of nandina is food, and the berries should never be eaten. A swallowed berry or two seldom does serious harm to an adult, but children are far more at risk, so keep the fruit out of reach and call poison control if any is eaten.
Keep berries and foliage away from pets, children, and grazing animals; supervise pets around landscape plantings.
Helpline numbers
United States
ASPCA Animal Poison Control: (888) 426-4435 (fee applies)
Poison Control: (800) 222-1222
Canada
Poison Centres: 1-844-764-7669
Varieties
Most of the nandina you'll find for sale is one of a handful of named selections, and several were bred to fruit little or not at all, which quietly sidesteps the worst of the plant's spreading. These are the ones you're most likely to meet.
Fire Power
A small dwarf whose leaves blaze red through winter and which sets little or no viable fruit, making it the safe, non-invasive pick.
Gulf Stream
A neat mounded selection loved for its rich red fall and winter color, and it hardly fruits at all.
Harbour Dwarf
A low, spreading dwarf that many gardeners mass as a groundcover wherever they want the height kept short.
Alba
An unusual selection that carries creamy white berries rather than the familiar bright red ones.
How to propagate
DivisionEasy
Late winter to early spring · One growing season
The easiest route to more nandina is to divide an established clump in late winter or early spring, gently separating rooted canes along with pieces of rhizome. Each division needs only a single growing season to settle in comfortably.
Stem cuttingsModerate
Summer · Several weeks to a few months to root
During summer you can take semi-hardwood cuttings from the season's fresh growth. They ask for a bit more patience than division, rooting somewhere between several weeks and a few months, so don't be discouraged if they take their time.
SeedModerate
Fall after fruit ripens · Slow; one or more years to germinate and reach size
Seed does work, though it is slow and usually best skipped. Sown in fall once the fruit has ripened, it can need a year or more to sprout and reach any size. Because birds scatter that same viable seed and feed the plant's spread, seed sowing is discouraged anywhere nandina might escape.
Myths
Heavenly bamboo is a real bamboo.
The name can throw you off, but nandina is not a bamboo at all. It is an upright, cane-forming evergreen shrub in the barberry family, Berberidaceae, and it is only the slender canes and fine leaves that give it that bamboo-like look.
Nandina berries are a safe winter snack for songbirds.
As lovely as they look, those berries carry cyanide-releasing compounds and are anything but safe. Birds like cedar waxwings that gorge on a heavy cluster in winter can die of acute cyanide poisoning, so taking the fruit off is a real kindness to local wildlife.
Sources
- ASPCA Animal Poison Control Center
- NC State Extension Gardener Plant Toolbox
- Clemson Cooperative Extension Home & Garden Information Center
- University of Florida IFAS Gardening Solutions
- USDA National Invasive Species Information Center
- NIH/NCBI PMC (Journal of Veterinary Diagnostic Investigation)
- Maryland Department of Agriculture