Fitting a tall bamboo in a station wagon

Customers often wonder how to get the bamboo they want to buy home.  Although they have the option of having us deliver their purchases to them, they can often save time and money by fitting the bamboo into their own cars, vans, station wagons, trucks or trailers. 


(Remember to bring along some old sheets, blankets and tie-downs when you schedule your visit to Beautiful Bamboo)

Repeat customers Matt and Kelly really wanted an instant look in their landscape and when Kelly saw our selection of 15-gallon Graceful clumping bamboos she knew that was just the plant she was looking for.  

 Ralph and our grandson Atom pose in front of some 15- and 30-gallon Graceful bamboos

But would a 20+ foot tall, multi-caned plant fit into their station wagon?  Not a problem!  After a few of the taller shoots were snipped off to a 14' height and all the canes were tied together, the plant was ready to be gently slipped into the back of the wagon.  

But at 14', the canes were still too long to fit completely inside the car. 

Solution:  Open the passenger side window and let the canes stick out.  

 

With leaves secured by blankets and straps and anchored to the front grill work, the bamboo was ready for the 45-minute drive home. 

 

Instant privacy and beauty ready to go!

I heart bamboo

Who loves bamboo?  I do!

Slender tan canes that have been heated, bent and fastened into place are a natural way to express your love. 

Bamboo hearts are a perfect addition to wedding arches or chuppahs, for interior decors or as a unique way to tell that special someone how much you care.

Garden club tour

More than 20 members of the Royal Highlands Garden Club visited Beautiful Bamboo this morning for a garden tour. In the photo above we posed together in front of our Emerald Timber Bamboo, one of our many clumping bamboos in the demonstration line at our nursery.

With our gazebo in the background, I explain to the group the difference between clumping and running bamboos.

A garden tour takes about 45 minutes, plenty of time to see all the bamboos, talk about plant care, growth patterns and answer questions.  To schedule a time for your own garden club tour, call 352-429-2425 or email sherry@beautifulbamboo.com

Peaking through groves of bamboo

 Yesterday on a walk around the lake, Ralph snapped these photos of me posing with the 'boo. 

 

Above and below I'm standing in a grove of Vivax Timber Running Bamboo (Phyllostachys vivax). Vivax is one of my favorite running bamboos because it forms such an open grove with large, beautiful multi-colored canes.

Below I'm standing in the middle of a grove of Red Running Bamboo (Semiarundinaria fastuosa).  Although it is called Red Bamboo, most of the canes are green.  Here in Florida, the red color only appears in the winter if it gets cold enough and even then, only some of the canes turn a dark, ruby red.  Red bamboo also forms a somewhat open grove, although not as open as Vivax does, and the canes get fairly large but again, not as large as Vivax.  It is, however, a far more aggressive (and therefore harder to control) runner than Vivax.

Vivax Running Bamboo - New shoots emering!

It's always so exciting when Vivax running bamboo begins to shoot.  The young canes emerge with such promise of beauty and strength.   ... See my Tabblo>

Catbird in the bamboo nursery

The other day I was helping a customer select a number of Alphonse karr bamboos in the nursery when a pretty gray catbird fluttered by. The surprisingly bold bird was not bothered by my presence and let me shoot several pictures before he (she?) decided to fly off to another, less peopled spot.

So many times customers ask if wildlife is attracted to the bamboos and I always answer, "Yes!"  

While all sorts of wildlife are attracted to bamboos, birds are probably the ones I see the most often.  I can't count the number of different bird species attracted to our bamboo.   

Birds are constantly flitting in and out of the branches, building nests in the middle of thick clumps and, in general, enjoying the safety and security provided by both large and small bamboo plantings.  This particular catbird was especially friendly and reminded me how glad I was to always have my camera with me when I head out to help a customer.