2002  - Memphis Zoo Delivery

 

Dec. 12, 2002

On this day, we begin digging the below Phyllostachys viridis 'pigskin' for an upcoming order. This customer wanted 18 feet or taller specimens. Most of these first divisions were 24 to 30 feet and had massive rootballs weighing 80 to 100 lbs. each. While bamboo generally has a very shallow rhizome system, it is very important that each culm has the right size root mass to match the culm size. The bamboo division will do much better with oversize rootballs like we dig. Note the 'golden' foliage at this time of year on the P. viridis. Culms in the two to three year old age range, in this species, have the white circle markings beneath each internode. These white markings will fade to a dark brown and the culms will turn to a golden color with age and sunlight. In our experience this is the fastest species to size up to culms in the 2 to 3 inch diameter. It matures at 3.25 inches in diameter and 47 feet in height. As I have said before, this was one of my first and will always be at the top of my favorites!

Nov. 2002

Below are a few pictures of P. aurea 'Golden' delivered to a landscaper in Atlanta, Georgia by Roger Jr. and Rachel.

Oct. 29, 2002
 

American Bamboo Society Meeting in New Orleans October 17-20, 2002.
We enjoyed seeing all our old bamboo friends and meeting many new ones.
 

These photos are from the four day national bamboo meeting we attended recently in New Orleans, LA. Once again, it was a great success with over 100 members attending from all over the U.S. There were also visitors from several foreign countries such as Germany, China and Portugal. All enjoyed great Cajun food and drinks. Each day there was something new such as live and silent bamboo plant auctions not to mention several tours of local bamboo groves.

 
 

Roger Jr. & Rachel enjoying the bamboo tour outside New Orleans.

 
 

July 22, 2002
 

These Field Specimens were delivered by Roger Jr. and Gayle to a landscaper in Kitty Hawk, N.C. The bamboo was needed as soon as possible. Within five days of the first inquiry, we had them on the way to the customer. This trip was 821 miles one way. It was beyond our normal delivery range, but when needed special arrangements can often be worked out.

 
 
   June, 2002
 

Here the tractor had several field specimens that were moved to the loading area. After being B&B they were loaded into the truck for delivery to a out of state customer.

 
 
 
May 28, 2002
 

New owners with the bamboo, both seemed very happy with it!

 

These photos show how the bamboo was wrapped.

 
 

May 17, 2002
 

Here we are preparing to load up 45 Field Specimens for a long trip north. This customer broke all our previous records for long hauls. A record we do not think will be broken. These are going to Butte, Montana.

 

Note all the Certificate of Inspection tags. These are used on all plants shipped out of state as required by the Alabama Dept. of Agriculture and certify the plants to be free of any harmful pest.

 

Off goes the bamboo to their new home.

 
 
 
April 27, 2002
 

A couple of photos we made prior to the delivery of Field Specimens to a customer outside Nashville, Indiana on April 23rd.

 

Finished!! Around 2700 pounds of bamboo divisions were delivered. Roger Jr. headed out the next morning at daylight for the 12 hour drive to Indiana.

 

April 10, 2002

     The Phyllostachys h.p. 'Moso" (Anderson Clone) begin to put up this years growth two weeks ago. Most are still around two feet in height, but once they get to this height they will begin growing up to three feet a day. I will not have time to post growth photos as I did last year, but I will try to get as many as time permits. Below are a few and several of these should be in the four inch diameter range this year. In the next 40 days they will grow to over 50 feet in height!

February 6, 2002

   This has been a very mild winter but we had a little touch of winter last night. It snowed and covered the decks. Then after about thirty minutes, sleet was pelting down. But to top it all, it changed to just cold rain after about an hour into the precipitation. That is just typical winter weather here in the south. We are getting really anxious, because it will be but a few more weeks until the true giants wakes. Last year in early March the P.h.p. Moso begin to shoot out of the ground!  We can't wait to see how large the biggest culm will be.....maybe 5 inches? 
 

February 2, 2002

     Below are a couple of photos from our last delivery of large Field Specimens. The customer wanted 40 of the Pseudosasa japonica (Arrow) bamboo delivered to his home. He needed an instant screen from a recently built store. He will have a very good start with these large divisions. The spaces left between them will fill in in a couple of years and the store will disappear completely from his view. These were custom dug with multiple canes in each root ball.  Screening is a very common use for many of our bamboos and it keeps us busy. Good for us and bad for some gardeners that our inventory turns over very quickly.

January 11, 2002

     Here are a few pictures of the trucks loaded with Phyllostachys rubromarginata and Phyllostachys aurea that was delivered to the Memphis Zoo. It is very exciting that the pandas are coming and that we have had a part in developing the bamboo for their diet.
 
 

This truck is loaded completely with Phyllostachys    rubromarginata. The bed of this size truck is 8'X 25' and  held over 300 divisions of the P. rubromarginata. The average  height of these plants was six feet and the root balls were   around 12 inches across.

 

Here many of the bamboo divisions can be seen during stablization.

 

Another view of plants during stablizaion process.

January 4, 2002

     We just returned today from delivering the 540+  bamboo divisions to the Memphis Zoo for the Pandas. They are establishing an 8 acre bamboo site to grow bamboo for the new arrivals due in May. It will take several years for the bamboo to get well established and provide all the needs of the Pandas, but they are off to a good start and we will be checking the progress over the years.  We will have a few pictures of the site and the delivery. We hope to add them in the next week. Even though it was windy with the temps. in the 20s, the bamboo looked great and was to be planted by this weekend.