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January

1/31/2007 Wednesday

Today, Mishael, Derrick and Roman braved the cold weather to come out and see some bamboo. They traveled from nearby Atlanta, GA (about a 3 - 4 hour drive) to see mature groves of bamboo. People often visit to help  decide on which bamboo to select. There are some subtle difference in various kinds of bamboo that helps to sway decisions. They had narrowed their selection down to a few and wanted see them in our groves.

In the end it came down to the Phyllostachys nigra  (in the pots directly in front of us) and the Phyllostachys viridis 'Robert Young' (the canes to the right). The Robert Young won today, but they did purchase one nigra black. They purchased a large order to be delivered to their home. A lot of customers come and pick out their bamboo for a later delivery date. This can reduce the stress of having to transport the plants yourself. We are happy to help out in anyway possible.

Here is a better picture of the victor of today's bamboo competition. The Robert Young species is a beautiful buttery yellow species that met all of their criteria. Robert Young is a species that sizes up fast and has gently bending canes. The bamboo they ordered was a custom size and had to be dug. This was completed today and will be watered and stabilized over the next month. Expect delivery pictures after that time. It is important to stabilize plants to insure that the customer gets a great division that they will not have to worry about. We enjoyed their visit and are looking forward to delivering the bamboo.

1/20/2007 Saturday

Today, we had a visit from Karl and his wife Barbara. They also brought their dogs to enjoy the bamboo. Clockwise from the left is Elmo, Sissy, and Trina. They live in our local area, about 60 miles away, and decided they needed a natural privacy screen.  They purchased 20 of the 3 gallon Phyllostachys Aurea 'Golden' to give them in the natural privacy that they were desiring.

After a tour to see what to expect out of their bamboo, we started loading. We had no problems and still had some more room to spare. It is always amazing just how many plants you can work into an area. Most of our customers who visit have a long drive, so it is important to maximize space by loading correctly.

With the bamboo loaded, Sissy is ready to drive everybody home. Thanks, Karl and Barbara for your order and we hope you enjoy the bamboo. We certainly enjoyed meeting you and your puppies.

1/19/2007 Friday

Over the next week we have several customers scheduled to visit so there will be new photos coming soon. We also confirmed a large order for a new landscaping company this week. These will be picked up here by the landscaper soon and we will post photos and news of this order.

Two more large orders are pending for delivery this Spring. One of these will be our largest delivery to date and we are very excited about it. The order will consist of several timber bamboo species to provide screening for a golf course. This order is larger than the Memphis Zoo order we done several years ago. We are looking forward to working with the new clients.





1/14/2007 Sunday

Just another week in the slow season, but we did get a surprise order from a new spa - La Vie Den Spa, about to open on Madison Avenue in New York. They ordered 10 of the 6' tall rubro, they wanted pretty and tall plants for their grand opening. You can tell from the pictures that we try to get the largest plants that we able to into a box. After years of experience, we have gotten pretty good at it. Denny, our new employee is 6' 3", so you can really get an idea of the size of these plants. It takes a lot of care and the right species to be able to ship a large plant in a box size that doesn't make it unaffordable to purchase.

Denny is receiving his training for Spring. It is best to start when business is slow because Spring is definitely more challenging. At one point in his career, Denny was a garden shop manager and then an assistant store manager for a large retail chain, I hope his shirt doesn't give it away. With Roger Sr. and Gayle retiring, I (Roger Jr.) have to bring in a few more employees to keep our service and quality. Denny will fill the position as the operational manager at Lewis Bamboo, Inc. We look forward to many years of excellent plants and great service. As of today, we have more inventory and better plants than ever before and will continue in this direction. We pride ourselves in sending quality plants and being able to fill all size orders. Bamboo is a growing industry and Lewis Bamboo has made the commitment to grow with it. Thanks for all the customer who have supported us through the years and we hope to be there to help you in the future.






1/11/07 Thursday

Today David and his lovely wife visited from not so near by Austin, TX. Texas is a booming market for bamboo. A lot of people in Texas have discovered the beauty of this wonderful plant. David was excited about getting some timber bamboo. He made some great selections of species that size up fast and species that will just plainly get gigantic.

Here they are enjoying a walk through our big Moso grove. This is one of the species he chose and it is the largest temperate bamboo on earth. David loved the idea of being able to form new shoots into square canes. He already had plans of how to form his own. You can see one of ours in this picture. It is the cane David is looking at and has the sunlight on it. Bamboo is a fun plant with endless possibilities.





Here, he is deciding on which plants to purchase. I always pull the plants that I consider are the best and let the customer choose from there. This is one of the benefits of visits, you get to choose any plant you want and you also get to see what they look like in a mature grove.

It is according to the species and size, but you could have over a 1000 plants to choose between. This is why I usually try to lend a hand in the picking process. We love to show customers around and I am proud to have good plants they can choose from.






Here is David, a proud owner of his new bamboo. He chose Phyllostachys Moso, Phyllostachys Viridis, Phyllostachys Viridis 'Robert Young', Phyllostachys Nigra Henon, Phyllostachys Vivax, Phyllostachys Bambusoides 'Slender Crookstem', Phyllostachys Rubromarginata, Phyllostachys Meyeri, and one Semiarundinaria Fastuosa to grow on. It was quite a shopping list, but he did drive a long way.

These selections will definitely provide him with the size bamboo, he was wanting, in just a few years. Now, we just have to get him loaded up for the long ride home. A couple grunts, plastic and a lot of tape later, we had him ready to go.

Thanks for the great visit and we hope you enjoy your new bamboo.









1/9/07 Tuesday

With a new year here, it is time to start getting ready for Spring. It is the perfect time to reserve your plants and shipping dates, because they fill up fast. We are carrying more inventory than ever before (8000+) in an attempt to meet the demand, but a lot of species sell out fast. We hope it will be another great year full of happy customers. We are dedicated to providing great plants and would love to be your source for all of your bamboo needs. Please let us know if we can be of any help.

 


This is one of the loads of saw dust. It is important to get the proper composition of organic potting mixture to have predictable yields. Most large scale agriculture producers tend to rely on inorganic fertilizers in soil mixtures. These are cost effective, but can have detrimental effect to the environment and plants if mismanaged. We try to avoid chemical fertilizers, in an effort to take care of the environment. We are located on a beautiful little river and would never do anything to hurt our local ecosystem.