Due to the relentless rain the past week, we have not be able to make photos of everyone visiting. Finally it stopped long enough for a few pictures of today's bamboo guest from Clinton, TN.  Dave and Lori were excited to get their new bamboo as you can well see from the photos below. Dave even broke into a juggling act a top his truck as Roger Jr. labored away loading.

              

                

                     

                    Finished and ready to head back to Tennessee with their new bamboo babies!  

June 14th

Click here for pictures of the Southeast Chapter meeting of the American Bamboo Society hosted by Lewis Bamboo on Saturday June 12th.
 

June 13th
    
The bamboo meeting on the 12th. went great! I will post info and pictures as soon as possible. We had socks made from 100% bamboo to give away to each guest at the meeting. Hopefully I can get photos posted in the next couple days.

The Southeast Chapter of the American Bamboo Society was invited to our bamboo farm on June the 12th.  It kept us busy for two weeks getting everything set up. I will post pictures and plenty of information about what took place during the meeting. We had free bamboo for new members who joined that Saturday. There were door prizes given away plus food and drinks for everyone! We had over 40 folks attend with visitors and members from Georgia, Tennessee, Florida, Virginia, Michigan, Mississippi, Nebraska and of course Alabama.  Several visiting members have large commercial bamboo nurseries.  The president and vice president of the chapter were present along with two directors and the founder of the Southeast Chapter. We had four master gardeners attend so all questions about bamboo or gardening were answered.

Due to pending orders and everything that went into the ABS meeting we are now taking orders for the shipping date of June 28th. Be patient with us during this busy time and we hope everyone has a great summer.

June 4th.
    
  We had the pleasure of meeting new bambuseros from Kentucky. John ( right )and Herschel ( left )drove down and picked up their new 50  bamboo divisions. They went with 43 of the 3 gallon Moso which were all 6 to 7 feet in height. They also took home a couple ground cover bamboo along with Fastuosa 'Temple', 'Robert Young', 'Giant Gray' Henon and Nigra 'Black'.  John has a degree in forestry and has his eye on the future with bamboo. Naturally his knows a lot about plants and knows bamboo will be a future crop here in North America as it has been for many eastern countries for hundreds of years. Below is a couple photos with their truck loaded and ready to head back north to plant all the bamboo. I really wish we had these 3 gallon Moso available every year, but they will be gone soon.

May 9th
    
 A few photos of our latest customer pickup. Larry ( right to left) and Jeremy drove around 9 hours one way from North Carolina to pick up their new babies. They spent the night in nearby Jasper and arrived around 9 am Sunday to pick up the bamboo. Even though it was Mother's Day and a Sunday, Lewis Bamboo hardy ever takes a day off.  Larry got in on the special we are offering on 100 of the 'Moso seedlings'. They will be planting these on his farm in the next few days. He wrote to say they enjoyed the tour of our bamboo groves and that his bamboo was safely at its new home in N.C.  Hope you enjoy our news and just let us know if we can be of help.

  

 

       

    


 

April 23rd

A recent bamboo delivery of 48 large divisions of 'Golden' bamboo went to nearby Anniston, Al. They wish to screen out some of neighboring sites and the bamboo will do the trick. Both seemed very pleased with their new babies and within a couple years should have a great wall of bamboo to provide them privacy.

    

Roger Jr. and Rachel are gone on a special trip. A customer, Merle, was on his way to pick up an order and had a bad wreck. He called to let us know. They dropped everything right then and drove down to the wreck site to check on him. They decided not to let this terrible event ruin his original 'happy bamboo trek'.

     Merle is 72 years old and loves bamboo. Roger and Rachel returned with him late in the evening. The bamboo was loaded in Roger's truck and though it was nearly dark, they all headed back to his home state of Mississippi. This was one delivery that was free and we are all just happy Merle was not hurt even though his truck is most likely totaled.

     We are very proud of our son and Rachel, his beautiful wife. This is how we raised him and it is great to see that he has chosen a wonderful person with great values to be his wife. Roger Jr. owns and operates Lewis Bamboo Inc.  It is very rewarding to Gayle and I that his business is ran properly. There is more to a business than making money. If a company is operated correctly, the money will come along.

                            

April 2, 2004

Images of our new 'Moso' shoots. These will be in the 6 inch diameter this year.

        

                 

03-22-04    Email update from our new bamboo friend/customer, Justin, who purchased 84 seedlings on March 14th.

I just wanted to give you a 1 week update, we have all the Moso planted in the ground and it is growing like wildfire.  We average 14 shoots per plant and half of them are in the 5 to 6 foot range today and are growing 9 inches to a foot per day, everyone loves them, we will send you a picture once these shoots are finished growing, thanks,

Justin

March 14, 2004

Another trailer load of 'Moso' seedlings went out Saturday. These 84 'Moso' were purchased by a family in Florida.  They were one of the last to reserve the 3 year old seedlings before we sold out. We still have plenty of 2 year seedlings and most have 6 to 14 new shoots in each container.  In the first photo, two proud owners Justin and Devan hold one of their seedlings with four foot rhizomes dangling from the pot. They are going to have a large tract of Moso planting for their future. The market for bamboo keeps growing with an unlimited potential. Justin has mail ordered from us several times before and was excited to visit our groves for the first time. They both added to their bamboo collection plus the seedlings.

      

 

 

March 12, 2004

We are very busy with more customers picking up here and our mail orders going full swing. Below are photos of yesterday's
bamboo pickup by D. Arnold from Murfreesboro, Tn. He was extremely nice and we really enjoyed his visit. He is returning again and promised to bring his lovely wife on the next trip. It was a 4 hour drive for him to pick up  his new bamboo. He was real interested in all the bamboo and was excited to learn all the species he could grow in climate zone 6. Some of his bamboo selection will be toward privacy screening. Several species will be used for large walk through groves and to provide bamboo material for his 'bow' making hobby!

He purchased 9 different types of bamboo. There were 23 of the large field divisions and one of our special 'Moso seedlings'. 

                                                

                                               

                                            

March 7, 2004

Our 'Spring Rush' has begun. We have been very busy since the large Austin Spa delivery. Field specimens had to be dug for some upcoming April deliveries. Several pickup orders have been burlaped and are ready to go. Orders for the 'Moso' seedlings have really surprised us and we have sold out of all the three year old ones.

Yesterday, we had a customer drive all the way from Virginia Beach, Virginia to pick up an order. Mr. Smith said it took him 14 hours to make the trip. He spent the night in Jasper and was here bright and early to get his new babies. His original order was for 'Moso' seedlings (on back of the trailer) and 15 gallon pots of 'Giant Gray Henon' seen below on trailer and then burlaped. He also selected P. nigra 'Black', Japanese Palm, 'Robert Young', Yellow Groove, and Rubro for tall bamboos. Sasa palmata, Sasa Vetchii and 'Shiroshima' was purchased for his wife. We really enjoyed meeting him and hope he had a safe journey back home.

The seedlings was put under the cover on his pickup and all the larger specimens were wrapped and ready for their new home.

Feb. 26, 2004

Hard work and excellent service have won out again! It was a beautiful trip with great scenery and food.  I assisted my son, Roger Jr., with his delivery to Austin, Texas on Wednesday the 25th. This was one of those large Field Specimen size orders and consisted of 184 divisions with many towering over 18 feet in height. Three species of bamboo were ordered including 76 divisions of 'Black'. Many root balls were in the 24 inch diameter range weighing over 70 lbs.  Below are photos and information on the 'spa'.

The order went to LAKE AUSTIN SPA RESORT on Lake Austin. Located with panoramic views and numerous activities the Spa was named a Number Five U.S. Spa, Number Four Texas Hotel and Number One Austin Hotel by the 2003 Zagat Survey. It was honored as one of the Top 25 Luxury Resorts in North America by Departures Magazine. It was listed as one of the top ten spas in North American by Conde Nast Traveler and Travel & Leisure magazine.  Millions of dollars are being invested in the spa and surrounding areas.

We traveled a total of 31 hours and over 1800 miles to deliver this 9000 + pound order. The Texas hill country of Austin was beautiful and the trip went without any problems. After you have done many of these deliveries you learn what to expect and we are set up now to handle most all large orders.

We are proud to have been selected as the bamboo supplier!

Feb. 16, 2004

We just returned from the annual meeting for the Southeast Chapter of the American Bamboo Society. The meeting took place at the Coastal Gardens in Savannah, Georgia. This is the most important chapter meeting of the year for our bamboo group. We always try to attend.  It involved a lot of the chapter's business, several bamboo speakers, a live bamboo auction, touring of over 100  bamboo species at the gardens and much more.  My wife, Gayle,  is one of the group's directors and web master for the Southeast Chapter. She has a total of 39 people attending the meeting and info will be posted on their web site as soon as we get caught up around here. Hard to go off and not get behind in our work schedule. Below are some of our photos, we hope you enjoy them.

Above are bamboos at the entrance to the gardens in Savannah. Below is Roger Jr. with his beautiful wife, Rachel,  preparing to go to the bamboo plant auction. Lewis Bamboo and several others donated plants to raise money for the Southeast Chapter.

Above Roger Sr. assist Adam Turtle with the live auction. Below are photos of the low country boil provided by John and Serena Nashworthy.  It rained, but that did not keep us away and everything was great. We had tons of food and drinks plus tours of their bamboo and lovely home.

Feb. 6, 2004

Below are photos taken today of flood waters at our home from the storms that came through last night.  No damage to our home or any bamboo groves. Our 24 foot pontoon boat rode out the water which rose to 14 foot above normal levels. Photo #1 shows the water 2 feet over the road. Photo #2 shows two homes as you enter our groves which were surrounded by water. Photo #3 shows P. nigra Henon, Robert Young and P. bissetii with the river in the background. Photo #4 is looking back up the hill as you are leaving our groves. The last image is a neighbor's truck going under. I tried very hard to waken him before daylight, but was unsuccessful. He has lived here less than 10 years and hasn't learned about Wolf Creek yet. It was his third vehicle to go under water. Mother nature can be tough, but you just have to realize what could happen and plan for the worst.
On the bright side, we will not have to water any bamboo this coming week.

Jan. 27, 2004

Here is the latest photos of bamboo divisions taken from one of our groves yesterday. They were moved to our holding area for Spring shipments.  We dug right at three hundred divisions yesterday and were physically dragging when the sun set. This is one of the work days that takes three days to recuperate from. My son, Roger Jr. who is 27, was worn out also which makes this old man feel a little better. It took my truck and 14 foot trailer plus his truck and 18 foot trailer to carry all these.  The last image shows some of them mulched down and awaiting an all night watering. Water is pumped from the river and is an unlimited natural watering source for our thousands of divisions.

Jan. 20, 2004

We dug backup divisions for a large up coming order yesterday. On very large field specimen orders we always over dig and supply the customer with extra plants at no cost. We now have this order completed and will baby them by providing shade, wind protection and daily watering until they are delivered in late Feb.

We begin taking orders for our new 'Moso' seedlings on Jan. 18th. These seedlings are going into their third year and are fantastic. The growth rate from any seedling is always amazing and these have not disappointed us.  I am taking orders now for these, but I will not ship them until new shoots have harden off. This will begin in late March and finish by late May or early June. At that time, we will begin shipping these out to customers who have reserved them by credit card or check first. These are different and each is special. The supply I am willing to sell will be first come first serve. This is the largest temperate bamboo species on earth. In climate zones 7 and 8, 'Moso' can reach a mature sizes of 8 plus  inches in diameter and over 75 feet in height. Pictures, of this giant species can be seen by clicking here.

Each seedling has the possibly of being genetically distinct. There is a chance, your clone could be unique and have characteristics such as variegation of the leaves or culms. We have culled the less vigorous plants and are only selling the top seedlings. 

Jan. 16, 2004

Gayle and I returned yesterday from another bamboo trip. Hope to get caught up around here this weekend and maybe post some new pictures. Also have some new cold hardy information to post on our Price List about a two year old planting of our Field Specimens ( P. viridis ) in Indiana. There are cold hardy reports being discussed on several species in the northeast during this terrible cold snap they are having. While we are reading these with interest we will not be changing anything we have as documented facts from our own customers. We expect to receive new data on how some of our customers bamboo did during this time. If there are any changes in cold hardiness or changes in the species we recommend to cold climate zones this would occur later in the year when all the facts are in post Spring shooting season.  New planting reports are never posted since they need two to three years of established growth to be accurate.

Jan. 12, 2004

Roger Jr. and I finished digging the last part of the 184 Field Specimens to TX. order.  We have six weeks to baby it and then off it will go to its new home.  It will be B&B and then delivered over 900 miles. I will post some new photos of these shortly.

Jan. 11, 2004

The quarterly meeting of the American Bamboo Society's Southeast Chapter was held Saturday the 10th of January. Below are photos of the meeting and grove clean up. The event was held at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens in Birmingham, Alabama. It was a beautiful sunny day with a slight breeze. We begin at 9 am and groomed the groves at the Japanese Gardens. Many species of running bamboo were planted in the late 70's and again in the early 90's. There has been moderate spreading of the bamboo and over all the groves were in great condition.  There were 12 members of the chapter in attendance and 23 visitors. After 3 hours of working, we all met at a local restaurant for some excellent Mexican food. Tours of the gardens were held until the chapter meeting begin at 2 pm.

At the chapter meeting there was open discussion and a basic bamboo 101 was covered. A panel of three bamboo growers were selected by the chapter president to answer questions. Robby Russell of Perry, GA is the current president and sat on the panel to assist.

The panel consist of 4 Bambuseros with over 90 years growing experience.

Robby Russell of Georgia Bamboo in Perry, Georgia
Steve Ray of Steve Ray's Bamboo Gardens in Pell City, Alabama
Harry Abel, bamboo landscaping design in the Atlanta, Georgia
Roger Lewis Sr. of Lewis Bamboo, Inc. in Oakman, Alabama.

Above are pictures taken during the grove clean up. After lunch, we give toured the groves. Next came the chapter meeting with the BBG providing coffee and cookies.  The visitors asked many questions about growing bamboo in their landscape.

Below are photos of the meeting.
Photo one and two, from left to right, show the entire panel. In the first photo, Richard Waldron from St. Augustine Florida, giving a demonstration on one of the two didgeridoos he gave away. After the meeting all visitors were given a division of bamboo that chapter members had dug from the groves. Over 50 bamboo poles were also given away to anyone who wanted them. Below are photos of the panel and visitors.

From left to right the panel is:
Steve Ray of Steve Ray's Bamboo Gardens in Pell City, Alabama
Roger Lewis Sr. of Lewis Bamboo, Inc. in Oakman, Alabama.
Harry Abel, does bamboo landscaping designs in the Atlanta, Georgia
Robby Russell of Georgia Bamboo in Perry, Georgia

We hope you enjoy the news update and can join us for our next meeting. We appreciate everyone showing up to help and learn about this wonderful plant. Many of our regular members were in attendance traveling from out of state. Three new members joined the chapter during the meeting and two others promised to do so in the next week. We welcome all to join the American Bamboo Society and help with our endeavor to add beautiful bamboo to our landscape. This information and photos will also be posted on the Southeast Chapter's web site so our members can stay current on past and up coming events.

Jan. 7, 2004

We are currently preparing two large orders for delivery.  One will consist of 184 large custom dug divisions in the 14 to 20 foot range going to Texas. The other will be around 85 field specimens and will be the third order for this customer. This has us jumping right now and we hope to have all this ready this month for the up coming delivery dates. Orders for the large custom dug field specimen size bamboo generally take at least 4 to 8 weeks to prepare. After they are dug and stabilized, they can then be picked up or delivered. When time permits and the customer prefers delivery we travel out sometimes over 1000 miles one way.

The Southeast Chapter of the American Bamboo Society will be meeting this Saturday the 10th of Jan. at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. My wife, Gayle, is a Director and is currently the web master for this chapter. She has this information posted on the Southeast Chapter's web site. Information forwarded to her has been incomplete as to the exact time the meeting will begin. In the past, our meeting generally start around 9 am so we are assuming that is when most members will show up. The president of the Southeast Chapter, Robby Russell, will be at our home this Friday and we will know, at that time, when he is planning on starting the meeting. If you are not a member, but wish to join and attend the get together, you can call Linda Emerson at 205-414-3910 for information about the meeting at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens. As in the past this will be a working meeting and grooming the groves will be done. No vendors or bamboo sales are scheduled that we have been notified about at this time.

UPDATE  2:45 pm 01-07-04  Gayle has learned the following information concerning the meeting Saturday at the Birmingham Botanical Gardens.

Jan. 10th. 2004, grove cleanup will be from 9 am to 2 pm. The Southeast Chapter meeting with panel discussion will be at the Educational Complex Building and begin at 2:30 pm. The meeting has been advertised in the the Birmingham News, Birmingham Botanical News Letter and the Birmingham Weekly Publication. This will be an excellent chance to join the chapter and learn about bamboo. Some very active key members of the American Bamboo Society will be present at this meeting and it will be a great opportunity to meet them.

Jan. 3, 2004

Below are photos of the bamboo Walter & Sharon from Baton Rouge, Louisiana picked up yesterday.  We toured the groves  and helped them choose the suitable species for their area and needs. They started their bamboo collection with eleven beautiful species. They were really excited about growing bamboo and selected some large divisions of timber bamboo and a couple of ground cover species.  They purchased Moso, Black, Yellow Groove, Robert Young, Vivax, Giant Gray, Japanese Timber, Flexuosa, Pigskin, Sasa Vetchii and S. kumasaca to be planted on their farm.

                                        Above we are loading up Walter's gooseneck trailer.

                       Walter is helping out tying down the bamboo after it was loaded and wrapped.

                             Walter and Sharon headed back to LA. to plant their new babies.

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