September 28th.

An editor from a local newspaper set up an appointment Thursday and toured the nursery with
owner Roger Jr. and Rachel Lewis. While taking many photos and notes he seemed overwhelmed with
all the bamboo he never knew exisited. The article will written and should come out in the news
within the next few days. We will post photos of his visit soon.

September 27th.

Below are a few photos of this past weekend delivery. We carried the large order of
'Moso', 'Black', 'Robert Young' and 'Sweetshoot' bamboo they selected for delivery.

Iveline and Guy's beautiful home outside Atlanta is shown below with the bamboo
they selected on a recent visit to our Nursery.



Above the bamboo is loaded and then covered with a tarp. Twenty four of the
large 15 gallon size Moso were included on this order. Below left, Roger Jr.
shows Guy all the bamboo they had selected.


 

Above right is their beautiful home where the 'Black' bamboo will be installed at
the front entrance. All the existing plants will be removed and the bamboo will be
planted for an Asian look.

Below, Roger backs the heavy trailer down a steep slope for the bamboo going
to the backyard. New hardscape construction in the backyard will consist of rock
garden with water feature.

 

The bamboo will be used around the new landscape and also used for
privacy screening.

  

 

Above Roger and Guy move the 'Black' bamboo into place at the front
entrance. This bamboo will add contrast and give the Asian look
they have in many areas of their beautiful home.

 

Thanks again and we hope they enjoy the bamboo. Just let us
know if you would like to add bamboo to your landscape. We
will work with you anyway we can.


September 23rd.

Roger and Rachel will be returning today from a four day delivery that took
them out of state. There will be news and more photos of this trip soon.

With so many visitors, we are having a hard time keeping this page updated.
Dean and his lovely family visited us from Pensacola, Florida. On weekends,
we usually have to devote our time to preparation of mail orders going out
each Monday, but Roger was able to see them due to their busy schedule.

Below he shows them around the groves.



Above they look over a P. n. 'Black' and Pseudosasa j. 'Tsutsumiana grove.

  

A thick growing cold hardy bamboo often overlooked for privacy screening is shown
in the above left photo. This bamboo is Phyllostachys stimulosa and makes a perfect
privacy bamboo while maintaining a height usually under 18 feet.

In the above right photo, they look at P. nigra 'Hale' which is the most cold hardy
of 'Black' bamboo. Below, they walk through some Moso and Vivax groves during
the tour.



Dean had selected four of the large 30 gallon sizes prior to their
visit. Harper assisted with the preparation of these the day before
they arrived. Loaded onto the lowboy trailer seen in the background
they are moved to the pickup up area.

 

Little Harper holds up her hands to show how big these are.
Two of the P. n. 'Giant Gray' Henon and two of the P.edulis Moso were
placed in burlap after being removed from their giant containers.



Harper tries to get her hands into the rich composted soil when possible, Roger Sr.
holds her back. Dean and his family also selected some 'Robert Young', 'Black'
and 'Green Onion' bamboo to carry back to Florida. We hope they had a same
trip and will return soon.


Friday the 15th. Roger and Rachel delivered 18 of the 15 gallon size 'Black'
bamboo to Mountain Brook, Alabama.

 

Above is the beautiful home with Roger and Hank before unloading.

 

Roger carried the bamboo to its new backyard screening location. Above right,
their beautiful little dog had to get in on the action. Hank and Linda were very
pleased with their new 'Black' bamboo and were going to have it planted that
day for their daughter's upcoming wedding.




September 15th.

Record sales for the month of September are being processed, we really appreciate
all repeat business and referrals from our customers. Linda and Hank were referred
to us Thursday from a landscaping client in Birmingham, Alabama. They were from
nearby Mountain Brook which is 50 miles from us.



She loved the look of 'Black' bamboo and purchased a large amount of the
15 gallon sizes for their home.  Below are some photos of their selection and visit.

  

Above they look over some of the 'Giant Gray' Henon and Moso which is the
largest temperate bamboo on earth. It can reach 8 inches in diameter here in
the southeast.
 
 

Below Roger works hard to get them all ready for delivery on Friday. Since this
was a large order and nearby, Roger waived the delivery cost. They both were very
nice and we thoroughly enjoyed their visit.

 

As with most nurseries operations, it is back breaking work and long hours. We
close at 4 pm daily, but Roger stayed late for their after hours visit. Above, he
moves the 'Black' to the loading area where it will be packed onto one of our
18 foot trailers for transport to their home. Below are some photos of the multiple
cane divisions they selected. Below are the 18 divisions of Phyllostachys nigra 'Black'
they picked out.

 


Below are photos of our first customer of the day Thursday. Jim was from
outside Atlanta, Georgia and drove over to select several species of bamboo.

 

Above left, Jim stands beside his trailer with some of the bamboo he picked out. He
was very excited and has always wanted bamboo. He will establish several large walk
through groves and a privacy screen also.


      

In the Moso and Vivax grove, they go over some of the growing habits. Jim learns
what to expect for the first couple years in growth.



They look over the P. viridis Houzeau' grove above. The cane on the
very right border of the photo shows the green cane with yellow stripe.
Below left, Roger shows Jim the rhizome growth on the large Moso
divisions he selected.



Jim went home with 4 of the 'Giant Gray', 2 of the 'Black', 2 of the
Rubromarginata and 4 huge Moso and a handful of canes for his
children to play with. We hope he had a safe journey home and
will visit us again soon.


September 14th

A lot of news this week with customers visiting and several large
orders taken. The order below will be delivered next week to Atlanta, Georgia.
These range from 12 to 18 feet in height and will be wrapped in burlap before
loading up for the trip.

24 of the 15 gallon size Moso
4 of the 15 gallon size 'Black'
2 of the 15 gallon Dulcis 'Sweetshoot'
2 of the 15 gallon size 'Robert Young'

 


Below is another order confirmed recently. This one consist of
11 Phyllostachys viridis 'Pigskin' and 10 of the 'Golden' bamboo
which are going to Huntsville, Al. They will be picked up here at the
end of this month and used for screening out a problem neighbor.
These were moved into the loading area yesterday and wrapped
in burlap.


 

The three photos below were taken for a landscaper in Pensacola, Florida
to view. He purchased these 300 'Landscaper Grade' divisions of 'Golden'
bamboo to be used in an upcoming project. They are sending a driver at
the beginning of October to pick these up in a large 30 foot trailer.

 

 


Office manager and loving mom, Rachel, helps Harper begin her training at
Lewis Bamboo Inc. Needless to say, she is very very smart.

 


September 12th

A super nice couple, Iveline and Guy, visited Tuesday to select some
large divisions to be delivered to their home in Atlanta, Georgia. Roger
and Russell gave them a three hour tour in the pouring rain. It wasn't
our first rainy tour and we are certain it will not be our last. They picked
out 32 of the large 15 gallon sizes.



Guy set the delivery date up for next week so we would have plenty
of time to get them all ready. Each one will have its foliage protected
from any wind damage that might occur during transport and the
root balls will be wrapped in burlap ready for planting. Above, they
walk through one of our 'Black' groves.

 


As they begin the tour, Roger shows them 30 gallon size specimens of some rare
bamboo. Below they look over the 'Aureocaulis' and  P. hindsii.

 

Guy and Iveline selected the below bamboo to landscape their property.
All were beautiful full divisions and will turn their land into a tropical paradise.

24 of the 15 gallon size Moso
4 of the 15 gallon size 'Black'
2 of the 15 gallon Dulcis 'Sweetshoot'
2 of the 15 gallon size 'Robert Young'


 

Above is one of our many ground cover bamboo that many landscapers find
very beautiful and unusual. Some ground covers grow to only 12 inches in height
at maturity while the larger shrub bamboo can grow to around 12 feet. Finding a
little shelter from the all day rain they end up in the giant Moso grove. We truly
enjoyed their visit on this rainy day and will see them next week when we deliver
their new bamboo.



September 6th

Today we confirmed a large order of beautiful landscaper grade Phyllostachys
aurea 'Golden'. http://www.lewisbamboo.com/golden-bamboo.html
This is a very attractive bamboo, perfect for privacy screening. We have had
a great sale on three gallon shipping sizes this summer and while the landscapers
grade are too large to ship, the customers that have picked these up
(or we have delivered to) have been more than satisfied with the height and
root growth of these plants. Lewis Bamboo has literally thousands of potted
bamboo divisions in sizes from 2 to 45 gallon, and can accommodate the largest
of special orders. We will have photos of this order coming soon.


September 5th
 
Today the McPhail family visited from Chelsea, Alabama. Roger and Rachel
gave them a tour while they decided which  plants to take home and add to
their landscape.



         

Roger shows the ladies one of our groves of Semiarundinaria fastuosa
'Japanese Palm' bamboo, and to the right , their lovely little lady,
Zoe, who was very excited about their day trip.

                                

Wayne and Beverly selected P. 'Moso' to use as a focal point in their yard
and P. Nigra Henon 'Giant Gray' to  create a privacy screen. They were
extremely happy with these beautiful plants and headed home proud
new bamboo owners.



August 29th.

Henry and Sandra from Ashland, Alabama set up an appointment and
toured the groves with us on Monday. Below are some details and photos
of their visit as Roger shows them around.




Above is one of our three P. viridis 'Robert Young' groves. This grove
contains many 3 inch diameter canes that are over 40 feet tall. The canes
of this species are bright yellow with random green stripes.  'Robert Young'
is cold hardy to -5 degrees F. We usually sell out of this beautiful bamboo
by early Spring each year.

Below left, they look over some of our 30 gallon containers of
Megurochiku 'Black Stripe' and Bory 'Snakeskin' bamboo. We currently
maintain around 100 of these larger 30 gallon sizes which weigh over 250
pounds each. Landscapers often choose this larger size due to the instant
comestic appearance they present.

 

Above right' they look at one of two groves P. vivax 'Aureocaulis' we have. This
grove is five years old and now has over 2 inch diameter canes 25 feet tall.

 

Above left, Pseudosasa amabilis or 'Tonkin Cane' bamboo which is used to
construct split bamboo fly rods. Above right is one of the 'Robert Young' groves
that lies adjacent to our bamboo shaded pathway.

Below is one of four groves of P. nigra Henon 'Giant Gray' we have at the main
nursery.
 

After touring the groves, Henry and Sandra picked out some large containers of
'Black', Giant Gray, Moso and 'Robert Young' bamboo. Roger and Russell
loaded and wrapped them all up to prevent any wind damage on the way home.
We enjoyed their visit and hope they had a safe trip home.




August 7th.
 
My parents, Gayle and Roger Sr. have just returned from a trip
to southern Florida to celebrate their retirement. The trip was long overdue
and they really enjoyed the entire vacation. They are looking for a sailboat which
we all feel they will immensely enjoy. They have lived on the water since 1985
and have had a variety of water crafts.  Of course, they did some bamboo
research on groves that had been established by bamboo divisions from
Lewis Bamboo over the years. We should have some nice bamboo photos
and information concerning temperate running species growing
in USDA Climate Zones 8 and 9 coming soon.