A customer shares Before and After pictures

Hi, Sherry,

When we came out a month or two ago and picked up some "Yin-Yang", Wamin and Lady Fingers, you told me I should be sending pics of our bamboos as they progress.  

Here's a few (better late than never?).  These show the Bambusa Dolichomerithalla "Silverstripe" plants we got from you in May.  They have transformed from 3 wispy little plants...

 

 

 First filling in with nice green leaves...

 Then at the end of June, our first shoot (viewed with exaggerated excitement here):

A couple of weeks later,  this is that same shoot:

 

 

The sheaths showed the "silver stripes" we've been expecting, but the culms are solid green underneath:

 

 

New growth started appearing so frequently we lost track.

By November, we've gone from 10 small culms to over 30.  Some taller than the house.  We actually had one new shoot after Halloween.  It's reached full height, but hasn't put out much in the way of leaves. We can't wait till those glass doors are well shaded (at this rate, I'm thinking next year for sure).

 Here's a closeup--new camera for Christmas! :)

 Here's our single Yin-Yang culm, with the silverstripes blurred in the background.

 

And here's the "blue moon"--full on New Year's Eve--actually looking blue behind the silverstripe.  It was beautiful!

 

I expect this next summer to be when the yard really starts to transform.  With this wall nicely started and the yin-yang and dwarf buddha belly clumps gearing up, it should be quite the show!

Looking forward to our next visit to your farm (maybe this weekend if you're in?).  Hope the New Year finds you well!  Thanks for the great bamboo and advice.  We're having a ball!

Cheers,

Andy 

 

Photos of Seabreeze Mid-size Timber Bamboo - Bambusa malingensis

Below is a picture of Jenny standing in front of a 5-year-old stand of Seabreeze.  Seabreeze is one of the most prolific clumping bamboos sending up more new shoots every year than most other clumpers.  It also can grow to be quite tall.  This stand is about 40' tall with closely spaced culms forming a dense impenetrable cluster of canes.

 

Below is an example of how densely clustered Seabreeze roots grow.  Note the new shoots beginning to emerge from the plant base.  In less than 2 months those beginning shoots will have reached a height of over 40 feet.

 

 

The photo below gives a good indication of what a tall, broad clump of bamboo can form out of a single Seabreeze cane.  The plant pictured below is four years old.  Like all of the bamboos in our demonstration line, it started as a single cane in a 3-gal size container.  The secret to fast growth is to plant bamboo in rich soil, irrigate it and give it regular applications of fertilizer.   Do that and you will be rewarded with big beautiful bamboos in only a few years.

Below is a photo of a 1-year-old Seabreeze hedge. The three individual plants that form the hedge all started out as single canes in 3-gal size containers.  They were spaced  5' apart to demonstrate how quickly (in just one growing season) Seabreeze can form a wall of green.

A Bamboo Bike Frame

 A customers in NY shared these photos of a bicycle frame he built out of our domestically grown black bamboo poles. 

 

And a photo of the finished product - It's bam-beautiful!!

Photos of Giant Timber (Bambusa oldhamii)

While rowing in the lake, I took a couple pictures of some mature Oldhamii's along the shore.  The best way to really appreciate the tall, elegant profile of Giant Timber, it is view it from a distance.

 

and below a close up shot of the same bamboo..

Notice how straight, Giant Timber (Oldhamii) grows.  This bamboo is 8 years old but it has looked very much the same for the past 5 years. It normally takes about 3 years for a bamboo to mature.  After that the culms continue to increase in diameter and grow taller but most of the dramatic growth occurs in the early years when cane height and culm diameter more than doubles in size over a relatively short period of time.

Below are two pictures of young Oldhamii shoots emerging around existing canes from previous years.  Like all clumping bamboos, Oldhamii begins sending up new shoots in late spring when the weather warms and continues shooting throughout the summer and into the fall. 

 

 

 

  

Below is an example of two 7-gal Oldhamiis - tall plants in our nursery with 1-3 canes each. 

 

Our son Toby stands inside a large clump of Giant Timber.  Toby is now much bigger and the bamboo is too!

Below is a line of 15-gal plants in our nursery.  The 15-gal plants are much taller and fuller than those in the 7-gal containers because they can support larger root systems.  In all bamboos it is the size of the root system that determines not only how many canes are produced each year but also their height and diameter.

Below, a sandhill crane struts past a mature stand of Oldhamii bamboo.

Photos of our own Homegrown Bamboo Poles

 Our own homegrown poles are not as straight as either the imported or designer quality polished poles.but they still work well for a variety of projects.  Below is a photo of the fence on both sides of our entry gate.  It is built out of a number of random diameter poles that were purposely cut at different heights to create a more informal look.

 

A close up, below, of one section of the entry fence.

 

An arbor built out of small (1" or less) diameter homegrown bamboo poles.

A simple fence, below, borders a flower garden with a bamboo bird feeder.

Below is a trade show display made out of our homegrown bamboo.

Another trade show booth used some of our freshly cut, green bamboo poles to create a more natural look.

Below is an orchid planter made from a short piece of our homegrown bamboo.