'Our Bamboo News' 2006
2004
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1994
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Written by Roger Lewis Jr. of Lewis Bamboo Inc. &Gayle & Roger Lewis Sr. of Bamboo Design
May 22nd.
Below are 30 gallon containers for your viewing as you enter Lewis Bamboo,
Inc. Along this area, we usually keep several 30 gallon sizes of around 20 species
for our customers to look at. Species such as 'Black', 'Koi', 'Tanakae', 'Bory',
'Spectabilis', Aureocaulis', 'Giant Gray', 'Megurochiku', 'Flexuosa and other
are currently on display.
May 22nd.
This past weekend Roger and Rachel delivered to Grapeville, Texas
again. The Dallas and Houston area residents have been great customers
of ours over the years. Several landscapers have also been purchasing our
bamboo rather than deal with local suppliers.
Jocelyn and Mike ordered these custom sizes of P. bissetii several
months ago. We dug and stabilized them when they ordered and they
were now ready for delivery. They were all B&B, but extra care was
taken due to the current heat we are experiencing. Each root ball
was placed into a 40 gallon heavy duty plastic bag and hydrated
for one week prior to delivery.
Five gallons of water were added into each bag before they departed for the
two day travel time required. All arrived healthy with plenty of water still
remaining in each bagged root ball. Above left, Mike helped Roger with the
unloading and carrying each bamboo specimen. Above right, Roger can be
seen walking along side their beautiful pool and spa.
They were both very pleased with the bissetii and will have some great looking
bamboo for years to come. The bamboo will act as a screen and add tropical
beauty to their already fantastic back yard.
This little fellow, Toby was right in the middle of it. He jumped right up
on the lounge chair and posed for another photo. As we understand it,
he does this on demand and on a regular basis.
May 20th.
This weekend Don and Soleak flew down from Chicago, Illinois to purchase
bamboo for their home.
Don had ordered large custom dug specimens in March. The 30 divisions were dug
at that time and have been babied while awaiting their pickup. Above left is our giant
'Moso' grove. To the right, Roger Sr. shows how the simple 12 to 14 inch deep trenching
method controls a large timber bamboo, Decora, within a small area.
Above left, Soleak and Don look upward at some 3.5 inch 'Dulcis' bamboo.
Above right, they look at and choose some of the Indocalamus latifolius
to take home with them. The large tropical leaves of this very cold hardy
bamboo are shown below. It matures at a short height of 10 to 12 feet with
hundreds of 1/2 inch diameter canes.
They also picked out two of the Sasa Palmata show below. They are planting
the Palmata and latifolius together to form a beautiful mix of tropical foliage.
Above, out on the elevated Broad walk, they viewed around 15 different bamboo
species. On the right Don looks at some 30 gallon containers of P. rubromarginata.
We dug 20 divisions of rubro in March for Don that were 18 to 22 feet in height.
Roger Sr. positioned the bamboo inside
the rental truck. They rented the truck in Birmingham near the airport were they
landed. We loaded rubromarginata, P. bissetii, Palmata, Latifolius and 'Green Onion'
shown below.
Above left is a close up of the canes and to the right is a grove of this beautiful little
bamboo. We enjoyed their visit and hope they have a safe trip back to Chicago.
May 15th.
Over the next week we will have a lot of new photos to add. This Friday
we will be in Grapeville, Texas delivering a large load of 20+ feet tall
specimens. Saturday two customers are flying in from Illinois to pick
up their custom dug order. They will rent a large covered truck to haul
the bamboo back home. Photos of all this will be posted next week.
Allen came for his scheduled visit to our bamboo nursery today. A
native of Alabama, he is well traveled and has visited the far east.
He lived 15 years in Hawaii and loved all the bamboo he has seen
in his travels and different residences.
Allan now lives in Maryland and already is growing some bamboo
at his home.
With a Zen type garden with water features, Allen is introducing several cold hardy
species of bamboo to his backyard sanctuary. Above right, we look at the Ps. japonica
'Arrow' bamboo. This is a small erect bamboo that is used around water features
a lot due to minimal leaf shed.
Above left, we look over some Sasa tsuboiana. Above right, we discuss the clumping
bamboo, Bambusa m. 'Silverstripe', shown in the left corner of the photo.
In the Moso grove, Allan looks at a large 7 inch diameter cane. Above right,
we talk about the Phyllostachys vivax 'aureocaulis' which is a very cold
hardy giant.
Out on the elevated bamboo boardwalk, we look at some 'Yellow Groove', 'Black' and
17 other species that can be seen from the elevated walkway. Allan chose 5 different
species to be shipped back home. He had flown down and could not take his new
babies with him on the plane. We will ship them up by UPS next week. Below is one
of the species Allan chose to use around his 'Koi' pond.
Hibanobambusa tranquillans 'Shiroshima'. Cold hardy to zero degrees F.
it has small canes with large variegated leaves. It matures under 16 feet
in height. Allen was a super nice guy and it was a pleasure to have him back
in this area.
May 4th.
On Tuesday, Kenneth drove down from Decatur, Alabama to look over the
bamboo farm. He had contacted us a month ago to back to set up an appointment.
We are still finding time to work all our customers into our busy Spring mail ordering
rush.
Below left, they begin the tour at at the linearis grove. This little bamboo makes an
excellent 8 to 12 foot privacy screen.
Roger Jr. showed Ken and his friend all around the groves explaining some of the
unique bamboo in our collection. Above right photo, the P. stimulosa grove
which is one of our excellent bamboo species used for privacy screening. It has
low growing limbs and is a short bamboo that has traditional characteristics.
Above left, they stand between a large 'Black' grove and our amabilis grove.
The amabilis has large foliage and is a very erect species. The canes of amabilis
are split and used to make the very expensive hand made fly rods. Above right
Roger shows them some new shoots in one of the vivax groves.
Ken decided on some of the 'Black' bamboo 
and a few of the 'Golden' aurea to begin his bamboo collection.
They really seemed to enjoy the visit and we know their new bamboo will do great.
May 2nd.
The first of May we had a nice family from Knoxville visit our bamboo
nursery. Sharon, her husband Kevin with their beautiful children Aaron
and Sebastian drove down to pick up their new privacy screening bamboo.
Above left, Roger shows them the 'Giant Gray' Henon grove. This grove was
planted 5 years ago beside his river home and now covers 1000 square feet with
canes 35 feet tall by 3 inches in diameter. Above right, they look over some potted
containers of 'Shiroshima'.
Above left, walking through several of our screening bamboo species which completely
blocks out some of the homes adjoining our property. To the right, Roger and the family
walk through one of that larger Moso groves. Aaron holds a new P. nigra 'Giant Gray'
Henon shoot that had been kicked over recently. Once an unwanted new shoot gets by
the lawn mower or weed eater and is this large in diameter we simply kick them over.
Little Sebastian was carried by his father during most of the tour. Below he feels of a
Moso cane that is over 6 inches in diameter.
Above right, Roger shows them their new bamboo which had already be
wrapped in burlap for its trip home. Nineteen of the 3 and 5 gallon size
divisions of P. rubromarginata and 250 feet of our rhizome barrier were
loaded into the trailer Kevin pulled down from Tennessee. We hope they
enjoyed the visit and had a safe trip home.
