BAMBOO€¦ · This is a common myth; my theory is that native North American bamboo is often found...

BAMBOO

Magazine of the American Bamboo Society October 2008 Vol. 29 Issue 5 $3.00 US

President’s Messageby Brad Salmon I arrived home from work today to find that 2 new bamboo plants sent by bamboo friends had arrived. The excitement of opening a box that contains a new bamboo plant continues to evoke those Christmas Day emo-tions from childhood. Over the past 7 years, I spent a good deal of energy and all nearly all of my discretion-ary money adding new species of bamboo to my collection. My collection is all but complete as I now have nearly every species available in the United States that has the potential to survive my climate — and a few that don’t — so the thrill of opening those boxes comes very rarely these days. Many of the early bamboo joys that I’ve experienced have faded; either I have become jaded or perhaps the newness has worn off, but I no longer lose control when the dog breaks off an emerging shoot. This spring, I turned to see my wife, mouth agape as I snapped off several dozen new shoots and again this sum-mer when I totally culled 5 underperforming groves. I no longer spend all of my spare time looking at bam-boo photos on the internet or chatting up on the forums, and the compulsion to drag 250 feet of garden hose around to water during drought periods has long since faded. But I still very much enjoy my bamboo, albeit with a peaceful sense of non-attachment these days. Recently I found a way to rekindle my enthusiasm for my bamboo: thinning the groves. This is something that all bamboo plantings — both runners and clumpers — can benefit from when properly done. In areas with cold winter climates such as mine it is very important to leave the groves alone for the initial 4 years, even though they may become a bit of a messy thicket during this period. Then one can begin to selectively remove tattered/leaning/small culms to allow more space and more light for new generations. If you notice that the branches are starting higher & higher up and producing fewer and fewer leaves then you are proba-bly a bit behind the thinning schedule. Clumping bamboos will also benefit from regular thinning, as the cen-ters of the plantings can become unsightly with faded culms. Some tropical bamboo growers use the horse-shoe model for thinning large clumps where a path is cut into the center of the planting and the older central culms are also thinned out, leaving a ‘U’ or horseshoe-shaped pattern. Initially as I started to thin the groves I was very reluctant to cut many canes and was very conservative. Cut some culms; stand back and look things over; cut some more. Quickly I discovered that my groves were looking quite different and — boy, I really liked the look. In no time I was guilty of over-thinning, as I so enjoyed the look of well-spaced culms that do not branch for the first several feet. It has rekindled my appre-ciation for bamboo and once again I can’t wait to get home and do a ‘walk through,’ perhaps in part because I have found a new way to spend countless hours in the groves. So if your bamboo is mature enough and you have the time/inclination you might wish to give thinning a go. And when you’re done, show off your bamboo to your friends, neighbors, the bamboo-wary populace, and send photos of your beautiful bamboo to the database at our www.bambooweb.info website. Beautify our world with bamboo! In this issue

President’s Message! ! ! ! ! 1Landscaping with Running Bamboo 2Bamboo for a New Botanic Garden 8Bamboo By Design: an exhibition review 10Fire-starting Using Bamboo 11Is Bamboo a Tree? 13Bamboo My Father Planted 13A True Bamboo Enthusiast: Susanne Lucas 16It’s Not Bamboo ! ! ! ! ! 18Letters 18Oregon Bambusero Meeting ! ! ! ! 19

Book Review! ! ! ! ! ! 20

2008 ABS Annual Meeting Schedule and RegistrationInformation pages 22 - 26

BAMBOO Magazine of the American Bamboo Society

c. 2008 American Bamboo SocietyISSN 1554-8295 Published 6 times/year

Don Shor, editorBetty Shor, co-editor

e-mail (both) - [email protected]

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Magazine of the American Bamboo Society October 2008 Vol. 29 Issue 5

Landscaping with Running BambooBy Richard ArgoIntroduction This feature is targeted for the bamboo novice, the person who has been thinking about landscaping with bamboo. You want to add bamboo to your landscape, but wonder where to begin. Which species is best for my needs? Why should I choose one type over another? Does bamboo really "take over"? This feature is intended as a "rule of thumb" when considering running bamboo, not hard-'n'-fast regula-tions. Blindly applied to any single bamboo species, you'll find exceptions to my recommendations. This ar-ticle was designed to arm you with some basic facts that should enable you to select the bamboo that best serves your needs. Then you can drill down to more specific information regarding the species, your loca-tion, and so forth. Why Landscape with Running Bamboo? I don't want to start a running vs. clumping battle, but I personally prefer running bamboo because many cold-hardy species are available, making it practical for any climate zone. Don't choose a clumper if the only reason you want clumpers is fear of spread. There are ways to deal with spread — more on that later.

Bamboo MythsIt will "just take over." Our bamboo farm, located about halfway between Atlanta and the Alabama line, is on the same place where my grandfather originally grew traditional row crops such as corn, beans, and tomatoes. Before we started the bamboo farm, much of the acreage sat idle for years. Pine trees took over, causing a major head-ache when we started planting bamboo. The trees were in the way. I've even seen pine trees growing in clogged house gutters! Ignored, any landscape will be "taken over" by something. The only time bamboo takes over is when the landscape is ignored. Maintain your bamboo, and it will enhance your landscape, not inhale it. It needs lots of water. This is a common myth; my theory is that native North American bamboo is often found growing along rivers and streams. The Georgia cane (Arundinaria tecta) that grows on our own farm thrives along one of the creeks that cross the property, and runs thick through the swamp on the other side. Also, bamboo has a tropical reputation that also hints at heavy water needs. However, most bamboos will suffer when subjected to "wet feet." When swamped, the rhizome rots in the ground. Your bamboo will not require an extraordinary amount of water to thrive. You can't kill it. Oh yes you can! However, cutting down a few canes — or even all the canes in a grove — will not imme-diately eradicate bamboo. I've heard countless tales from people who bush-hogged a grove, only to see new shoots emerge the following spring, as if the bamboo was just showing them who's boss. This approach might work for many plants, but you can eradicate bamboo if you understand it. But why would you want to? This idea of "you can't kill it" is related to the "it will just take over" myth.It's the magical renewable plant. Some folks have an idea that bamboo just renews itself, as if it's a magical plant that has transcended the basic plant needs of sunlight and nutrition. Although bamboo is an amazing plant, it nonetheless responds to proper management. Feed it and tend it, and your bamboo will perform well. Stick it into poor soil and ig-nore it, and your bamboo will barely eke out a meager existence. Withering pitiful canes will cry "j'accuse" as they fall on the ground toward you.

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Sources for Bamboo Want bamboo? You'll need to dig your own or buy it. If you buy, skip the local nursery. On the rare occa-sion that a local nursery has bamboo in stock, you're unlikely to find anyone who actually knows about bam-boo. I occasionally find live bamboo for sale in nurseries, but I have never found an all-purpose retail nurs-ery employee who had any experience with bamboo. Unfortunately, the typical nursery can provide little specific information about bamboo. When I have asked about nursery bamboo, the employee typically re-plies "I don't know; it was on the nursery truck." Dig it YourselfAdvantages: Digging your own can be a fun adventure for the DIYer: you get good exercise along with "I did it" brag-ging rights after your bamboo is thriving in your landscape. It's also very economical. Except for your time and the gas you burn driving to the donor grove, the labor you provide is your own. You can also begin with as large a rhizome as you can physically handle: The larger the rhizome, the better. Bamboos purchased in containers or ball-and-burlap typically limit the size of the bamboo root. So if you can wrestle an anaconda-size rhizome from a grove to your yard, go for it! Finally, digging your own means you'll see a mature grove. This may be the most important reason for dig-ging your own. The mature grove from which you dig offers a tantalizing glimpse of what your own grove can be. Have I sold you on digging your own bamboo? Hold the phone: Digging your own has its disadvantages: First, it's very physical. Have you started amending the soil for a new garden spot and hit a tree root? Dig-ging a bamboo division offers the same underground challenge. You must chisel, cut, and chop to sever the bamboo rhizome. Not everyone is up to such a brutal upper-body workout. Chopping through rhizomes with heavy digging tools can be brutal on your wrists, shoulders, and back. Digging your own bamboo requires more than a common shovel. We destroyed at least one shovel or other implement when digging bamboo until we invested in Wolverine digging spades. With shipping, you're look-ing at almost $100 per spade. You may employ axes, picks, mattocks, and other digging implements to har-vest bamboo. By the time you break your tools or invest in heavy-duty implements and a series of visits to your local chiropractor, you may save money by buying bamboo from a grower. Finally, digging your own bamboo limits you to the fall and winter months. In general, you'll want to dig your bamboo from about Thanksgiving through Valentine's Day. Digging in warmer months will dramati-cally increase the mortality rate of the bamboo. You may also feel as if you're courting your own mortality when you dig in the heat of summer. Purchase from Mail-Order Nurseries The greatest advantage offered by mail-order nurseries is the terrific selection of species. It's unlikely that you can also successfully grow all of the species you can order from them; nonetheless, many mail-order nurseries offer more than 100 varieties. Mail-order nurseries are also convenient. It's hard to beat the ease of calling a 1-800 number or using the Internet to place an order. A few days later, your plants appear on your doorstep. How cool is that? The American Bamboo Society pubishes a Species Source List annually of bamboos sold by mail, with the names and addresses of the growers and how to order from them; it can be found on the website: americanbamboo.org Most importantly, mail-order nurseries offer advice before and after the sale. Buy from a bamboo mail-order nursery, and you're guaranteed to receive information about your bamboo from people who know and love bamboo.

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Mail-order nurseries do have their disadvantages. Mail-order plants are limited in size. UPS has their lim-its, and so will your mail-order plants. What you get in convenience you lose in initial size. Granted, after a few years, your mail-order bamboo plant will rival any other plant. But you may not get the "instant gratifi-cation" you prefer. Mail-order purchases also mean that you don't get to select the plant yourself. I know the owners of sev-eral different mail-order nurseries and I have 100% confidence in the quality of the plants they ship. None-theless, buying by mail order — be it bamboo or Buckaroo Banzai memorabilia — doesn't allow you to see and touch your purchase beforehand: something very important to many buyers. Finally, mail order includes shipping costs and the chance of damage in shipping. This is a minor consid-eration, but I mention it because there's no guarantee that Brown won't turn your green into brown. If a fork-lift driver squashes your Phyllostachys aureosulcata 'Spectabilis', replacing it can be a hassle.

Purchase from Local Grower Purchasing bamboo from a local grower means you can see plants, not just photos. The same handicap faced by mail-order catalogs from 100 years ago remains trou-blesome with today's internet ordering: How can a small photo tell the whole story? With bamboo, it's even tougher: How does a single photo do justice to a mature cane that might be half an inch wide and 12 feet tall? You can zoom in on the culm to show unique features such as the swollen nodes on Chinese Walking Stick (Chimonobambusa tumidissinoda), but you lose the "big picture." If you in-clude a long shot of an entire grove, you lose the details. Purchasing from a local grower means you can select your plants. As I mentioned

earlier, some people want to see it before they buy it. Buying bamboo from a local supplier enables you to see it, touch it, compare it to other bam-boos, and so on. If you want to buy five pieces of black bamboo, and your local supplier has 30 available, you can search the 30 for the five plants that suit you. You can often begin with larger plants when dealing with a local grower. Shipping a load of tall, heavy plants can have its practical limitations for the homeowner. If you (or your buddy) have a truck, van, trailer, or other means to haul large plants, buying from a local supplier offers you the chance for the "instant grati-fication" of beginning with tall culms in your landscape. If you want to start with very tall culms, discuss the specifics with your local grower. You'll find practical limits to the height of any bamboo you plant. The taller the culm, the trickier it can be to establish. You may be able to stick a 20-foot Phyllostachys vivax in the ground, but that doesn't mean you'll see 20-foot shoots next spring. As with mail-order sources, you receive advice before and after the sale. Depending on how far you drive to get your plants, you may also have the chance to see how your bamboo grows in your area. Bamboo per-formance will vary among climate zones and elevations, so seeing it growing in your own area can help you decide which bamboo is right for your landscape.

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Unfortunately, buying from a local grower has its disadvantages. Operating hours and the location may not be convenient. Working with a local supplier means working with that grower's operating hours and location. The grower's business hours may not mesh well with your schedule. Worse, if the grower's site is a few hours away from you, your bamboo purchase could include a significant investment of your time and the gas it takes to drive there and back. Unless you have handy access to a truck, SUV, or similar vehicle, your local purchase may be limited by the size of your car. If you want a dozen 12-foot P. vivax in 5-gallon containers, leave the Mini Cooper at home. Some growers will deliver for a fee — it never hurts to ask. If the delivery cost rivals the expense of renting a truck, you might choose to save your strength and let someone else do the hauling. So you've found a source for your bamboo. But what should you grow? No matter which bamboo you pre-fer, height will likely be an important concern. For practical purposes, bamboo height can be divided into four groups:

Timber Bamboo (50+ ft)Mid-Size Bamboo (20 – 50 ft)Short Bamboo (10 – 20 ft)Shrub Bamboo (less than 10 ft)

Timber Bamboo The term "timber bamboo" is loosely defined as any bamboo that reaches 50 feet or above. Timber bam-boos are useful if you want to create a visual screen to save your eyes from staring at power lines, microwave towers, municipal water tanks, and nosy neighbors staring from second-story windows. At maturity, timber bamboo culms may grow 20 feet or more before producing limbs. Although a mature grove of timber bam-boo will also contain juvenile culms of varying heights, timber bamboos may not be the best choice for creat-ing a visual screen between you and something of the same height. By growing fewer limbs close to the ground, timber bamboos may not create the visual block you desire. Of course, a mature, groomed timber bamboo grove also makes a peaceful retreat — you can't help but walk among the towering culms and enjoy the shade and tranquility it provides. Some popular timber bamboos include:

Phyllostachys vivaxPhyllostachys bambusoides: Japanese TimberPhyllostachys edulis: MosoPhyllostachys bambusoides: 'Slender Crookstem'Phyllostachys nigra: 'Henon'

Midsize Bamboo Mid-size bamboos are often better suited for privacy screens. Several species grow limbs from every node, all the way to the ground. Midsize bamboos are also good for homeowners with height restrictions. Perhaps a timber bamboo just wouldn't look right in your landscape. Sometimes you just need a screen, not a Fortress of Solitude. Midsize bamboos also offer a greater variety in terms of color and other unique characteristics than timber varieties, such as variegation, stripes on culms, black, gold, and so forth. Some popular midsize bamboos include:

Phyllostachys nigra: Black bambooPhyllostachys aurea: Fishpole bambooPhyllostachys rubromarginata: Red MarginPhyllostachys viridis: Robert YoungPhyllostachys heteroclada: Water Bamboo

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Short Bamboo Short bamboos work well for privacy screens. You may also find that they're better suited for ornamental gardens, since their diminished stature prevents them from overpowering other garden elements. However, if you might eventually want to harvest bamboo shoots, stick with taller bamboo. Short bamboos typically do not reach large enough size to provide edible shoots. As with the mid-size bamboo, you also have a choice of unique physical characteristics not found in timber bamboos. Some popular short bamboos include:

Pseudosasa japonica 'Tsutsumiana': Green OnionHibanobambusa tranquillans 'Shiroshima': TranquilPseudosasa japonica: Arrow bambooChimonobambusa tumidissinoda: "Chinese Walking Stick" (needs some shade)

Shrub Bamboo I often find that people unfamiliar with bamboo are surprised to learn that shrub bamboos are actually bamboos at all. (The Japanese call them "Sasa.") Shrub bamboos are too short to produce the ubiquitous ver-tical, noded cane, so they may not suit your visual landscaping needs. They typically grow larger leaves than taller bamboos, an adaptation to low-light environments. However, they make great complements to taller bamboo when filling space. You can also use shrub bamboos to complement areas overshadowed by trees that would prevent other plants from thriving. Worth noting: Enjoy making your own sushi? The leaves of Indocalamus tessalatus ("Giant Leaf bam-boo") make a terrific presentation for your hand-crafted maki or nigiri. If your neighbors aren't already im-pressed by your Asian culinary prowess, wait until you reveal that the giant bamboo leaf underneath your unagi was grown in your own back yard!Some popular shrub bamboos include:

Indocalamus tesselatus: "Giant Leaf"Sasa palmata

What to Expect"First it sleeps, then it creeps, then it leaps!" – old bamboo adage First Year: The bamboo adjusts to its new environment. Leaves may turn yellow and drop; new leaves will grow to replace them. A few new shoots may emerge close to the original plant. These new first-year shoots are typically shorter than the original canes. Second Year: Rhizomes [underground stems] will spread several feet from the original plant. New shoots, taller than the shoots from the first year, will emerge a few feet away. Third Year: Rhizomes will branch underground and spread much further. New shoots appear several more feet away, and grow larger than previous shoots. Subsequent Years: Rhizomes continue spreading and branching underground. Successive shooting seasons produce larger and larger canes until the bamboo reaches its mature height. Older canes begin to die, clearing the way for continued new growth.A Year in the Life of Bamboo Annual Bamboo growth can be divided into three basic categories:

Winter DormancyAbove-Ground GrowthBelow-Ground Growth

Winter Dormancy December – March: Although not dormant in the strictest sense of the word, bamboo is taking a long win-ter's nap. During this time, some leaves drop and others look weathered. However, the leaves remain green.

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Rhizomes are not spreading and no new shoots emerge. By March, bamboo is poised for dramatic springtime growth. Above-Ground Growth April – July: Spring arrives with a bang for bamboo. New shoots emerge (as early as mid-March for some

species) and can grow more than a foot a day, straight up! New shoots are soft like celery and easily broken or damaged. As the shoots reach their maximum height, branches open, leaves appear, and the soft plant tissue hardens into woody canes.Below-Ground Growth August-November: Growth shifts from shoots to rhizomes. Although the bamboo may appear to have stopped growing, it's still very active. Rhizomes are spreading beneath the soil and soaking up water and nutrients. Some bamboos may send up latecomer shoots at this time, but these rarely mature into full canes.

Controlling Spread Bamboo will not just "take over" unless

you plant it and ignore it. As I mentioned, an untended landscape will become overrun — bamboo or other-wise. You can control bamboo spread by several methods:

Natural BarriersInstalled Root BarriersMowing and Trenching

Natural barriers include bodies of water, roadways, hard-packed earth, and pavement or other construction. Bamboo won't cross water, be it small creeks, lakes, or rivers. Roadways and hard-packed soil also prevent bamboo from spreading. Other construction, such as large concrete foundations, parking lots, and retaining walls can also deter rhi-zome spread. Root barriers can control spreading rhi-zomes, but they can be labor-intensive or costly to install. If you install a root barrier, use a heavy plastic rated for root/rhizome control, at least 24-inches tall. Avoid using metal sheets for rhizome control. The barrier should remain about two inches above ground so you can see and snip any rhizomes trying to escape over the top. Leaving rusty sheet metal sticking out of the ground can be a safety hazard.

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Mowing and trenching can also be effective methods for controlling spread. New shoots can be mowed or lopped if they emerge beyond their limits. Trenching means digging a ditch that rhizomes must cross to spread — effective, but not always the most desirable addition to the typical residential landscape.Richard Argo is a bi-vocational farmer who develops online training and technical documentation by day, and spends the rest of his waking moments reviving the family farm by growing cold-hardy running bamboo, lecturing about bamboo, and now, writing about bamboo. You can reach Richard at [email protected].

Bamboo for a new Botanic GardenTheme Species JustificationAsexual reproduction Phyllostachys aurea

Rhipidocladum sp?

leptomorph rhizomes for fast colonization

stoloniferous colonizationClimbing solutions Chusquea valdiviensis

Merostachys sp?

Rhipidocladum racemiflorum

Arthrostylidium sp?

Chusquea pittieri

ramble by elongation of pliable culms and dense tufts of short circumnodal branchlets wedge into supports.

1-2 cm root thorns

Defense from attack Bambusa bambos

Himalayacalamus falconeri

sharp thorned horizontal branches

new shoots covered with a thick mucousEnergy storage Dendrocalamus giganteus pachymorph rhizomesFiber & inner strength Phyllostachys edulis

Gigantochloa apus

Dendrocalamus strictus

or Guadua amplexifolia

Silicon oxide as well as lignin

extreme pliability when young

one of strongest, often solidFire adapted Vietnamosasa sp? varied rhizome depths insure against unpredictable heat dam-

age, allows competitive recoveryFrost tolerance Fargesia murieliae withstands -29 C. How?Fruit forms Melocanna baccifera large fleshy fruit atypical of grassesLeaf function Best exemplified by? culm sheaths, rhizome bracts, foliageSexual solutions Phyllostachys bambusoides gregarious flowerer, longest period up to 130 yearsSolar radiation defence Semiarundinaria makinoi culm color in sunSubstrates Arundinaria gigantea ssp. tecta air channels in rhizomes allow growth in seasonally water-

logged ground.Water management Sasa veitchii

Fargesia nitida

Best exemplified by?

leaf margins die back in winter

leaf rolling

drought deciduous and pachymorphBy Guy Davies, Ph.D. Initiator and coordinator of The MIDAS Project, Portugal. A new botanic garden is being created in northern Portugal. The 19-hectare site lies forty kilometers from the sea. An amphitheater-shaped ravine snuggles around the site, opening up to the south and creating a strong microclimate in combination with the numerous waterfalls that cascade from 350 meters down to 130 above sea level. It has acidic granitic loamy soil, USDA zone 9b with 5-10 frosts per year, never past break-fast. The botanic garden project has three primary aims: education, conservation and eco-tourism. A landscape corridor will link three existing conservation areas along the adjacent river, and will contain the botanic gar-den, which will have three primary feature areas: a conservation trail, an evolution walk, and a set of inter-connected theme rooms.

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Evolution Trail Projected onto the landscape will be a phylogenetic tree with all the major innovations that led to today’s existing species. The tree will take the form of a bifurcating path starting with the first land plants, the bryo-phytes. As the path climbs, time passes and early vascular plants appear. Mosses, horsetails, ferns, and — as time and elevation increase — the path divides into the major branches of plant taxa, finishing at the top of the site with many of our most familiar but recent species. Bamboos will enjoy views from near the top. Suggestions from readers for representatives of bamboo speciation events are welcome.

Educational Theme Rooms About 25 theme rooms – outdoor rooms of vegetation — will each be devoted to illustrating a single theme about plant form or function through carefully selected species. The rooms are arranged as a cognitive map which together form a physical, living knowledge structure that visitors can experience first hand. The chosen themes are mostly taken from the National Curriculum and aim to supplement desk-bound study with situated learning. The rooms will house learning activities or games that groups of school children can enjoy.

Admission of a species to the collection is on the condition that the species is justified in its planted con-text by an educational and/or conservational objective. Here, I invite readers to name and justify inclusion in

the living collection, of bamboo species that exhibit specific unique or extreme illustrations of plant form and function relevant to some particular theme room. In this way you can contribute to the creation of the garden. Candidate species already selected for the theme rooms are the following:

There may be species that better illustrate themes, in which case alternative suggestions to those in the ta-ble are welcome. All the other species (non-bamboos) for the botanical collection have been through the same selection sieve. Please send your suggestions to [email protected]. So far, the following theme rooms are without bamboo: Mineral tolerance, Parasitism, Pollination Tricks, Progeny dispersal, Scent, Symbioses, Tropisms, and not least the Mathematics room, which will exhibit plants that display fractals, Fibonacci numbers, and other hidden patterns that many school children find fascinating. Seeds of bambusoideae produced in the USA may enter Europe. So any of you who have seeds could make a very tangible contribution to the collection. In addition to the species listed above, we would welcome any of the following: Bambusa tuldoides f. ventricosa, Chusquea coronalis, C. foliosa, C. valdiviensis, Chimono-bambusa utilis, Chimonocalamus delicatus, C. longiusculus, Dendrocalamus asper, D. brandisii, D. chungiii, D. hamiltonii, D. pachycladus, D. semiscandens, Fargesia yunnanensis, G. nigrociliata, Merostachys sp, M. capitata, Rhipidocladum racemiflorum, Otatea acuminata var. aztecorum, Phyllostachys nidularia, P. prae-cox, Qiongzhuea tumidinoda, Schizostachyum brachycladum, Thyrsostachys siamensis, Yushania oblongo. Post to G.Davies, RIT, Lundag. 61, 117 28 Stockholm Sweden.

Conservation The site of the botanic garden hosts an example, outstanding in Portugal, of the habitat Bay Laurel Thicket, which is on the EU priority conservation list (habitats directive). This once-common habitat has been all but eradicated. The fortunate factor that has allowed this example to survive is the steep inclination of the ravine along which it grows. Fortunately this steep ravine also results in an entrancing sequence of wa-terfalls and pools enclosed by the fluttering leaves of a broad-leaf canopy. The beauty of this habitat opens people’s hearts to conservation messages. The MIDAS Project begins in earnest this Autumn and will be fully operational by 2013. Contributions are welcome: www.midas-botanic-pt.org

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'BAMBOO BY DESIGN'by: James Clever An exhibit called "Bamboo by Design" was at the Foun-tainhead Gallery in Seattle, Washington on August 7-31, 2008. The guest curator was Nancy Moore Bess. well-known in ABS as a vibrant speaker at many of our conferences, as the chair of our Arts & Crafts awards and as a renowned art-ist, teacher and author of the book Bamboo in Japan. She is also a champion of a large group of artists who are making their mark in the world of bamboo. For an invitational ex-hibit she brought together 11 of these prominent artists from a wide range of talents and mediums, all using bamboo as the primary material. Works included vessels (baskets), jewelry and wall-hung sculptural pieces. Several of the artists have been winners of the ABS Arts and Crafts awards. Featured artists included: Dona Anderson, Danielle Bodine, Charissa Brock, Jill Nordfors Clark, Alonzo Davis, Polly Jacobs Giacchina, Ann Taylor Gibson, Glenn Grishkoff, Jae Young Kim, Hiroshi Oe, Jiro Yonezawa. Having seen many photos of some of these artists' works in this ABS magazine over the years, I went into the gallery with some limited expectations. Being within a breath's reach of a three-dimensional piece by a master such as Jiro Yo-nezawa brings out many emotions. Close-up visual inspec-tion brings out more than a simple story of a piece of art on display. The time needed to design, craft, construct and assemble into these finished pieces boggles the mind. Constructing a simple frame house out of common 2x4’s is child's play compared to the engineering of these

intricate designs. I kept thinking to myself, “How in the world did they get everything to stay together?” “How did they make those thin slivers of bamboo bend and stay attached?” The mixed media used not only to ornate, decorate or create part of the artist's plan but also produced both art and architecture. They were grand de-signs on a small scale. Bamboo unto itself is art. Just look at a bamboo cane: Nature designed a perfect structure. And broken down to its building strength pieces, such as a piece of wood, this can be a tool for building and assembling a designer's finished project. Look closely and you can imagine the many hours of time put into this piece and the genius of the maker. Donna Anderson: her two pieces are large stand-alone designs. The piece Crossing Over, recycled bamboo Kendo sticks, pattern paper, thread 15 x 30 x 94 inches, is massive. It is hard to put into words. Seeing a photo of her work cannot fully give an idea of how amazing this work is in person. This is another reason to at-tend these shows.

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Charissa Brock had three pieces: Hidden, black bamboo, fused glass, wood, paper, waxed thread, steel 19 x 16 x 16 inches; The Night the Stars Fell, black bamboo, fused glass, rock, waxed thread, steel 42 x13 x 28 inches; and Three Sisters, bamboo, rock, waxed thread 36 x 30 inches. In my opinion. these three pieces cap-tured the soul of this exhibit: the use of bamboo for both its strength in building the pieces and for its natural structure to signify its internal beauty. The addition of the glass and stone adds in a quiet way, thus being an accent to the bamboo's strength. Jill Nordfors Clark had three pieces: Collaboration III, materials: hog casings - stitched, matchstick bamboo technique, needle lace 27 x 11 x 11 inches. This piece, seen from afar, even through the window before you enter the gallery, stood out. It appears as a tower in miniature. Many of us have seen the frameworks made from bamboo constructed around new buildings in the October 1980 issue of National Geographic. This was my first impression. Up close the detail in the assembly using Hog casing to bind this together was impressive in its new approach. Hiroshi Oe had three pieces, each of which expressed bamboo splits woven into baskets, with the twist of showing the natural bamboo habits expressed in nature. From afar they look like rough woven basic baskets. Close up they are intricate weaned bamboo splits combined with the whole parts of the stems and branches. The closer you look the more you see and the more beautiful it develops in one’s mind's eye. Jiro Yonezawa also had three pieces that showed his skill in weaving bamboo strips into organic shapes that were accented with a rich patina finish. Look and discover for yourselves these artists' work. See and let others know your thoughts. And be sure to let the artists know in your own words how you feel about their work. If you try to make a basket of bamboo you will realize the real art is in the preparation, planning, acquired skills, and time it takes to produce a finished piece. Seeing all these finished pieces humbles one in the skill of these artists. To view the exhibit at Fountainhead Gallery in Seattle, see www.fountainheadgallery.com.

Photos courtesy of The Fountainhead Gallery 625 W McGraw St Seattle WA 98119

Fire-starting Using Bambooby Edward ReadCalifornia State University, Fullerton, Californiae-mail: [email protected](reprinted, with permission, from the ABS SoCal Newsletter and from the author} My name is Edward Read. I am the manager of the CSUF [California State University, Fullerton] Biology Greenhouse Complex, where we conduct research and house a diverse collection of plants for the courses. I recently came across your website as I was doing a search for taxonomical works on bamboo. I am trying to identify the species of bamboo that was used in S.E. Asia to quickly start a fire in the days before matches. I write this letter in hopes that it may lead to my identifying said bamboo and also share a use for bamboo that may not be common knowledge to the members. In S.E. Asia are found two very ingenious methods for starting fire with bamboo. One tool is known as the fire piston, which can be crafted out of several different materials, including bamboo, that ignites a piece of tinder through compression. It is believed by some that [Rudolf] Diesel [1858-1913], while contemplating a

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way to build a more efficient engine, was inspired by a demonstration of this device by a professor who re-ceived one as a gift while visiting S.E. Asia. A second, which sparked my own interest in bamboo, is referred to by anthropologists as the bamboo strike-a-light. It is a length of mature dried bamboo culm that is sharply struck with a piece of broken pottery or flint to produce a spark for lighting tinder. As questionable as this method sounds, it has been documented numerous times by early explorers, anthropologists, soldiers of WWII, and most recently by a friend of mine while visiting a remote village in Borneo. Examples of bamboo strike-a-lights are found in several museums, including here in the United States at the Smithsonian. Walter Hough [1859-1935], head curator of anthropology at that institution, wrote on the subject in his book, Fire as an Agent in Human Culture [1926]. He was able to start some tinder alight with-out difficulty by using an example found in the museum's collection and wrote that he hoped that Henry Bal-four, the director of the Pitt Rivers Museum in England, would further study and write an all-inclusive article about this method as Balfour had done with the fire piston. Balfour never did do such a work; therefore, some friends and I have enthusiastically taken it upon ourselves to do it. Using museum examples to identify the bamboo species is difficult, as no culm sheaths with auricles and ligules are included as part of the de-vice, just a length of culm with a cap on the end. Ah, but there are clues and, thankfully, older people out there who still remember this old technique as a way their elders started fires. As my friend tries to collect specimens for identification and to record as much information as he can learn from those who still remem-ber, I am working on learning about bamboo taxonomy and putting him into contact with taxonomists to properly identify the bamboo. Naturally, as an amateur ethnobotanist, I'd love to grow this bamboo myself! Could it be possible that this bamboo is in cultivation here in the United States or even in the SCBS [ABS-SoCal[ collection? Here are some clues so that you can join me in figuring this out. Hough stated that the ex-amples at the museum have a hispid siliceous epidermis. The bamboo shown to my friend was thin-walled, had long internodes, and was named "Temiang" (which could be spelled differently). Hough wrote that the Filipinos called the bamboo "buyo" and that smooth bamboos do not work. As common names are often mis-leading or incorrect, I have not given them much weight, but they do serve to confirm some suspects. Also, there is the possibility that more than one species of bamboo will work. The genera Schizostachyum and Bambusa contain members with long internodes and thin walls. Schizostachyum jaculans, lima, iraten, and silicatum are my top four suspects. Geographical locations have been good clues. The taxonomical descriptions of these species need further work as some epithets may be synonyms. What really matters in my search for the bamboo strike-a-light is finding a bamboo with a hispid siliceous epidermis so that, when struck with a hard siliceous rock such as chert or flint, sparks will fly. The tinder used was made from the fluffy hairs of Caryota mitis [clumping fish-tail palm] mixed with charred leaves or coir, and it needs to be well prepared because the sparks produced are not very hot. So, go out and feel those culms and see if any has a rough siliceous epidermis. In my first attempt I was able to get one single spark from Bambusa oldhami. That was all I needed to believe it is actu-ally possible. Later, I was able to create sparks from a weak pencil-sized culm of what is possibly Schi-zostachyum jaculans, which was crushed from the force of the blows. The culm has to be mature and com-pletely dry. Examples in the museums are 2 cm in diameter or more. I would appreciate any help or comments from your members. Maybe one of you has heard of this before or even seen it done. Well, as strange as my reason for becoming interested in bamboos may seem, I've en-joyed learning more about them and plan on adding a few to the collection. With any luck I'll have a strike-a-light bamboo with a binomial name on it and a great story to tell the students.

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Is Bamboo a Tree? (summarized from Bamboo News of the Bamboo Society of India (Issue 75, June 2008) The Confederation of Indian Industry and the India Development Foundation have concluded that bamboo is a grass — and not a tree. This makes a difference in how bamboo is handled. The Forest Department har-vests only dry bamboo. But if bamboo is a grass, it can be harvested green, which would increase the yield considerably. At the present time there are restrictions on the harvest of bamboo and on its transit and trade. It is regulated by "a quagmire of archaic forest laws, where bamboo is defined as a tree, and therefore, felled bamboo [is] termed a timber." So it is not presently grown on private lands. The demand for bamboo in India is greater than the supply. It has been suggested that the government "embark on a systematic plan to rejuve-nate the degraded bamboo areas by the Forest Department." Then the yield could be increased and private plantations could be promoted for greater supply. About 12.8 percent of the forest area of India contains bamboo, but its distribution is not uniform; adding private plantations would be an improvement.

Bamboo My Father PlantedBy Don Shor Originally published in the Davis Enterprise (California) August 28, 2008

About the same time I went into the retail nursery business (1981), I gave my mother a book about succu-lents which sparked a renewed interest in collecting and propagating them (featured in a previous column). It doesn’t take long before you have a surplus of succulents, given how easy they are to propagate, so she be-gan providing them to me to sell. Then my father started loading them into their Jeep Wagoneer, and trun-dling them off to nearby nurseries in Southern California to sell to local retailers there.! “As long as you’re visiting all these nurseries, Dad,” I said innocently one day, “keep an eye out for interesting clump-forming bamboos. All I can find up here are the runners.”A brief explanation. ! There are types of bamboo that spread vigorously, which most people are familiar with by reputation. Phyllostachys aurea (Golden bamboo), Phyllostachys nigra (Black bamboo), and others have horizontal-growing surface stems called rhizomes that can spread several feet in a season. Bamboo lovers call these “runners.” But many of our most attractive and useful bamboos spread very slowly, forming tight clumps. They are not invasive at all, and take up about as much room in the garden as a large shrub. Members of the genus Bambusa are all “clumpers,” and these were what I was seeking. A lot of wholesalers had Phyl-lostachys, but in the mid-1980’s availability of clumping bamboo was very limited here.! So a couple of years later he was president of the American Bamboo Society. There had been a mild previous interest in bamboo: when they built their San Diego home in the 1950’s they had planted a Giant timber bamboo (Bambusa oldhami) in a corner of the patio, at what happened to be the highest point in the neighborhood, flanked by a couple of Washingtonia palms. They grew fast to make a dramatic, lush skyline silhouette. Bamboo gives fast results, and except for watering it is pretty carefree. So he already had a re-spect for the plant, and as he visited nurseries he began to realize what a diverse family it was. Three gardens.! That was about the time we purchased a rural property, so we designated about half an acre for vari-ous of the clumpers he found for us. And for himself: there are now large specimens of different species lin-ing the private road on their suburban Southern California lot. Others went into containers: dozens of pots, planters, and raised beds filled with clumpers and runners. It’s a good thing La Jolla is a pretty benign cli-mate. My mother hand-waters several dozen containers of bamboo, succulents, and other specimens every few days! The last time I was down there I counted 79 plants in pots, not even counting the greenhouse. ! About the same time, the local chapter of the bamboo society got involved with Quail Botanical Gar-dens, a delightful small botanical garden in Encinitas (a coastal community north of San Diego). The bam-

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boo society needed an import site, and Quail could use a good collection of bamboo. Now, with over 100 types, “Quail Botanical Gardens has the largest collec-tion of Bamboo in the Northern Hemisphere.” [press release, 2006]. Dad didn’t plant them all, but he was instigator, propagator, and organizer of many of the planting and maintenance projects. In that nearly frost-free climate they can grow some of the giant tropical species. Quail Gardens is well worth a visit if you are in Southern California. Back to the Dixon farm. I had only one rule: no runners (this makes me a wimp to true bambuse-ros). The first were offshoots of that original B. old-

hami, which we integrated into the nas-cent landscape to provide texture and contrast among other trees and shrubs. To our surprise, they provided habitat for songbirds and nesting sites for hummingbirds which like the dense foliage cover. Twenty years later I still have hummingbirds nesting in the timber bamboo every summer. ! Every visit brought new clumpers. An overgrown clump of ‘Al-phonse Karr’ (a variety of B. multiplex) was divided into many pieces and planted on 3’ centers, creating a hedge 30’ long and about 15’ tall. With its gold-striped shoots, dense foliage, and up-right habit, ‘Alphonse Karr’ is one of the best bamboos for Sacra-mento Valley gardens. Another large piece of B. oldhami was chopped up and planted to form a row of giants over 30’ tall. By the way, chopping through clumping bamboo roots is pretty arduous. My dad highly

recom-mends a Sawzall reciprocating saw, and be sure to keep roots and leaves wet through the whole process.! Two plants of Buddha’s belly (B. ventri-cosa, above right) were sited a little too close together, a serendipitous mistake which created a small space where you can be nearly surrounded in a thicket. Two plants of Punting-pole bamboo (B. tuldoides, right) were purchased at auction, and fortunately I gave each enough room to show off the graceful form. ! A little plant of ‘Tiny Fern’ (a dwarf variant of B. multiplex, above) got lost in the weeds, mowed repeatedly and given up for dead. A few years

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ago – over ten years later! -- I notice it sprouting a couple of forlorn shoots. Never give up on bamboo! I pulled the weeds and began watering and fertilizing it. Today this little resur-rected plant is in the center of our bamboo collection. ‘Fern-leaf’ and ‘Tiny Fern’ are two of the best for small yards and are excellent for containers.! Some were experiments. An in-law provided a castoff of Beechey’s bamboo (B. beecheyana, left), a giant species which is reputed to be too tender to grow here. It grew, it froze, it grew again and froze again. It was kind of like having a gigan-tic 30’ tall perennial that died to the ground each winter, which makes this species hard to recommend here. Common bamboo (B. vulgaris), also considered tender here, froze four winters in a row. ! But bamboo can create its own ecosystem: the buildup of old leaves and culm sheaths (the papery structure that sur-rounds the shoot and is shed as it expands) provides an effec-tive mulch, preventing the roots from freezing and desiccating in the winter. So as years went by, each of these “too-tender” species survived, then thrived. Beechey’s has 4” diameter shoots which spread outward. The shoots emerge in September

and reach their 30’ height by the end of October; you do the math!Using bamboo in the landscape.! All you have to do is plant bamboo, water, and wait. Pretty soon you have big, bold dramatic land-scape plants. So while we blended the first bamboo into our landscape, we’ve adapted the landscape design to the later plantings. Not much grows under a clump bamboo because of the dense roots, and not much is necessary: the shoots and leaves provide all-season beauty, and there are seasonal transitions as the new shoots form, the sheaths peel away, and the shoots change color. But lots of plants can complement bamboo. Tropical-leaved plants such as bananas (Musella lasiocarpa shown at right) and cannas provide contrast in summer; nearby flowering trees such as al-monds, plums, crabapples, and magnolias mark the spring. Paths can curve around them and beckon to hidden nooks.! Bamboo creates its own atmosphere as it rustles in the slightest breeze, moves in the wind, and reaches to the sky. There is no qui-eter place in the garden than in the midst of bamboo: you hear just the sounds of the bam-boo itself. It’s easy to see why it is so vener-ated. My father is bedridden now, but he has left a legacy in three gardens. I would never have a half-acre of bamboo if it weren’t for him, and he would never have done it if it weren’t for my innocent comment over 25 years ago!

Quail Gardens: http://www.qbgardens.org/ Bamboo for the Sacramento Valley: http://redwoodbarn.com/DE_bamboo.html

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A True Bamboo EnthusiastBy Susanne Lucas, Past President, ABS When Betty asked me to tell the story of how I got "into" bamboo, I thought about the first time I saw the

plant and that ensuing story-line. It was the privacy screen of Phyllostachys along our family’s yard in suburban Maryland when I was a kid, etc. But the re-ality for me was not about seeing the plant or growing the plant; what has kept me "alive" in the world of bamboo is more about the places I have gone and the people I have met. This is the root of my love of bam-boo. After attending a symposium in 1987 in Boston on the subject of bamboo, sponsored by the Arnold Arbo-retum, a group of people raised their arms and said, "Yes, let’s form a regional chapter of the American Bamboo Society"; this became the Northeast Chapter. In April, 1991, we hosted a meeting at Longwood Gardens near Philadelphia, and Gerald Bol was one of

our guest speakers. Gerald was the President of ABS and a nurseryman from northern California. Gerald was mellow; he was soft-spoken and kind. He was patient with my rookie questions. I saw him again later in 1991 at what was my first national ABS meeting: the Woodland Park Zoo in Seattle, WA. I can still remem-ber walking over to Denny’s restaurant to share a booth for breakfast with Richard Haubrich (the founding President), Ned Jaquith, Gerald Bol, and David King. It was a new experience for me, listening to various speakers on a variety of subjects all relating to bam-boo, touring gardens, making friends. After I got back home, I sent a letter to Gerald to tell him how nice it was to meet everyone; if the Society needed any help, I was will-ing to volunteer. A few months went by. One day the tele-phone rang; it was Gerald. He called to ask if I really wanted to become involved in ABS. I said "yes." That fall at the meeting at Fairchild (1992), I became Secretary of ABS. In 1990, the Northeast Chapter invited Wolfgang Eberts as a speaker at our Spring Meeting held at the National Zoo in Washington, D.C. Enthusiastic and contagious — it was easy to become friends with Wolfgang. In those days, pre-world-wide-web, we sent letters back and forth, telling of bamboo news and fantastic gardens, and sending photo-graphs of another common bond : Airedale terriers. Wolf-gang encouraged me further to meet other bamboo friends, telling of people like Peter Addington in the U.K. and Yves Crouzet in France. My appetite for travel became a diplo-matic mission. Fast-forward and I find myself at JFK airport, meeting Dolores Holland and Nancy Bess, the three of us destined

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for Japan for the 3rd International Bamboo Conference in Minamata. Somehow, over 50 of us were to meet at Narita Airport under the guidance of Ginger and Karl Bareis: 20 something Americans and 20 something Europeans. This was a trip I could never have imagined. Japan, for me, was a turning point that brought me the world of bamboo in such a way that my heart can’t let it go. Traveling on a bus filled with bamboo enthusiasts speaking at least four different languages, seeing bamboo growing in abundance out the window, a fascinat-ing culture at every stop, walks through places that felt like dreams: this was my beginning in a new world of bamboo. Nights playing poker with Gerald and an international assembly in a crowded hotel room sealed my fate. Toni Grieb is the most amazing man I have ever met. Recently, on August 23 over 100 people came to-gether to celebrate his life in his beloved garden in Montet, Switzerland. He died in February. I had met him first on that trip to Japan. We met up again in Bali in 1995. Again on a tour with Ginger and Karl Bareis, we traveled together in Yunnan in 1997 to see Fargesia in the wild, I visited Toni and his wife Lilly almost every year since that meeting in Japan in 1992. His garden inspired me. His lifestyle motivated me. His phi-losophy comforted me. His enthusiasm encouraged me. Almost 90 years old, he brazenly bragged about hav-ing the largest Phyllostachys, as well as the most unusual collection of plants in Switzerland. His friendship brought handwritten letters and fantastic dinners and colorful stories; he was my true mentor. Again harmony came in the evolving friendship with Dolores Holland and Nancy Bess. Through traveling together to bamboo meetings, touring gardens, sharing plants, Dolores, Nancy and I found a harmony in friendship despite the miles in between; our time together was always interesting. We fed each other with stories and experiences and “where shall we go next?" In the summer of 2006, cancer took Dolores from our world. Sure, we planted and grew lots of bamboo. But there was always something more to see. She was my big sister who kept pulling me ahead. Eager to catch up, I continue the quest with her spirit warm inside me. Life never ends, it simply changes. I met Ned Jaquith in 1991; Ned owns Bamboo Garden – a bamboo nursery. Foremost, he is the most knowledgeable person I know about growing bamboos – period. He is self-taught. He is modest. He is fair and generous beyond belief. He has taught me more about bamboo than any book could try. Simply put, Ned is fun, practical, easy and wise. We’ve enjoyed so many bamboo meetings together; I have lost track of how many exactly, across the U.S. and across the Atlantic Ocean. Maybe the most fun was the summer of 2006 in Germany. Ned is my forever friend. I served as a director and as an officer for the American Bamboo Society for over 15 years. I’ve seen fabu-lous bamboos living in many places. I’ve developed a nice garden full of bamboos in a cold climate. I’ve done some public speaking and taught education courses. I’ve collected thousands of tidbits of bamboo knowledge. I am successfully self-employed as a landscape designer and consultant. I have residential home-owner clients and worked on large commercial landscapes. My partnership with Oprins Plants in Belgium brings BambooSelect® to the North American marketplace: field-tested superior clones of bamboo through tissue-culture propagation. After attending a meeting of the European Bamboo Society in Belgium in 2000, I suggested to Jan Oprins that if he ever wanted to do something in the U.S., to let me know; I could help. Jan and I began our business venture in 2003. Our adventure continues. Our progressive bamboo production at North American Plants in Oregon is based on the break-through techniques he and Johan Gielis first devel-oped in the early 1990’s, establishing a leading reputation internationally in the world of bamboo biotech-nology. But the most important reality is that the most valuable success I have found through bamboo is that of true friendships. I am extremely grateful for this. P.S. Attend a meeting and make some friends! Hope to see you in San Francisco in November!

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It's Not BambooThis was the first letter: I have often wondered what kind of bamboo plant I have here in Lexington Kentucky. …I looked in on your websites and learned that clump bamboo does not grow well in this region. Yet, I have what I think is a clump bamboo. I read that a flowering bamboo is a very rare event and it signals the death of the plant. Yet I have a plant that flowers every year in the fall. My plant does die in the late fall early winter, i.e., the above ground fo-liage dies. I remove all the dead culms, or sometimes simply trample them into a mulch and leave it around the plant. In the spring the culms start popping out. I de-stroy the ones that get too far away from the clump. I purchased a house 27 years ago in Oldham County, KY where this plant was growing. I liked its appearance so when I moved to Lexington 5 years later I took some of the clump with me and planted it where you see it pictured. It has grown taller and spread to a

larger sized area, but 23 years later with almost no care it is thriving and very pretty in the fall. The reddish blooms often are more silvery in appearance rather than reddish. What can you tell me about my flowering clump bamboo in Lexington, KY?Two days later a follow-up letter said: I had also sent my email to John Burton. He has responded that the plant is Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia japonica, for-merly Polygonum cuspidatum). Upon looking that one up it does appear very similar, except the flowers are usually white and some varieties seem to have a leaf that is shaped slightly different.Coincidentally, this was the second query I have received re-

cently about what turned out to be Japanese knotweed, also identified by someone else. – Betty Shor

We Get LettersDear Ms. Shor,I am writing to you after finding your name on the americanbamboo.org website. I live in Port Washington, NY on the north shore of Long Island and have a large stand of spreading bamboo along my northern prop-erty line where it has migrated from my neighbor’s yard. It is now contained behind an underground barrier, but the entire stand began to flower this year, and I am very concerned that it will drop seed and spread far-ther into my yard. While I have seen many articles about saving flowering bamboo, I have not been able to find any information on preventing bamboo from spreading via blown or dropped seed. I would greatly ap-preciate any information you could provide. If it would be helpful, I can send a digital photo of the bamboo.Thank you, [name withheld]. Yours is an interesting question. The seeds do drop right close to the flowering plant, and I assume that wind could carry them to some extent because they are light (in most species). I think the best you can do is watch for the young plants and dig them out as fast as you see them. At first they look just like blades of grass, but as they get a foot or so tall, one can see the bamboo format. Those young plants, not attached to

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the main stem, can be dug up readily. I have no idea how many seeds the plant may drop, but it may well be over a period of a few months. The viability of bamboo seeds drops off rapidly, so your problem should not extend more than a year at most. I would be interested in knowing whether you do find seedlings. Does the neighbor know what species it is? You might reduce the problem by cutting off what branches you can reach while they are in flower.Betty Shor

A Meeting of the Oregon BambuserosBy Suzie Curtis The Oregon Bamboo Association (OBA) kicked off summer with a great meeting in Medford on July 20th. Present were OBA Board Members Gib Cooper and Tom Taylor, as well as OBA Members Galyn & Rose-mary Carlile and Suzie & Travis Curtis. The meeting commenced with a special motivational moment by Suzie Curtis, followed by her story about how she caught the bamboo bug. Here is the tale: “A year and a half ago I really didn't know anything about bamboo. If I only knew how my world would change! In March 2007 my husband and I took a trip to visit relatives in Maui. We drove along the beautiful Road to Hana, making many stops along the way to admire the scenery or hike to a hidden waterfall. On one of these stops, we pulled over next to a bamboo grove. We started hiking through it – and it was the MOST AMAZING thing in the world! The floor was so clean, with only bamboo leaves and no weeds or bushes. The culms were so shiny and round and beautiful. I was instantly fascinated by this amazing plant so unlike any other. "When we arrived back in Oregon, I immediately got online and started browsing. The very first thing I learned is that lucky bamboo is NOT bamboo. I was so thrilled to discover that there were a wide variety of species of bamboo that would grow in my climate zone. I first ordered a 'Vivax' plant online, as well as Ted Meredith's book Bamboo for Gardens. That book is amazing; I have now read it cover to cover several times, each time picking up something new. "I was so excited to discover Gib Cooper's bamboo nursery, Tradewinds Bamboo Nursery, in Gold Beach, Oregon. I showed up there one day, not realizing that his is mostly a mail-order business. I simply said, “I found your nursery online and wanted to see it!” Gib, bless his heart, was wonderful, and even though I'm sure he had plenty of better things to do, he gave me a tour of all his different bamboo species all around his property, and explained a lot of interesting things about bamboo to me. I will never forget the hospitality he showed to a brand-new bamboo enthusiast. Thank you, Gib. "Needless to say, in the next few months I accumulated a small collection of a variety of species of bam-boo, mostly from Tradewinds. I now have 33 different species in my backyard (which is not large, and now quite full of bamboo). My wonderful husband built an elaborate sprinkler system to help take care of the bamboo, as well as a greenhouse for the winter. "One of my favorite things to do is walk around my bamboo, and search for new shoots, and just admire the sheer beauty of the plants. I hope to always be involved with preserving this amazing plant, as well as introducing it to the public as a friend, not a foe. This is one bug that I'm so glad I caught.” Gib Cooper made a few demonstrations regarding his newfound fascination for Chusquea as a bamboo for building. When Chusquea and Phyllostachys vivax 'aurea' were compared side-by-side, the Chusquea held up much better when nails were driven though it, with very little splitting at all. The same went for cutting and splitting the culms. The conclusion was that Chusquea was a very good bamboo for projects.

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The meeting ended with a special guest, Kalo, from the Tierra Seca Chapter of ABS. Kalo, from the Santa Barbara area, had been involved with bamboo projects before, including building bamboo housing in Thai-land. He was currently in the Rogue Valley Area undertaking a construction project for the Mystic Garden Party in Ashland, Oregon. Thank you everyone who attended the July 20th meeting, and the OBA looks forward to seeing you next time!

Book Reviewby Betty ShorFarming Bamboo, by Daphne Lewis and Carol Miles, available from Lulu Press: www.lulu.com. 204 pages. Paperback, 8-1/2X11. Price $27.00. Growing bamboo for shoots and poles is not yet a large industry in the United States. This book could well change that. It is aimed at northwestern U.S. (Washington and Oregon), where running bamboos generally do well and the climate is favorable. This limits the likely distribution of the book. For example, Washington state has water rights for farmers that are (I think) unlike those of other states. The chapter on pests includes voles and nutria, but not the gophers and ground squirrels that we battle in southern California. The information on mites is accurate, and useful to bambuseros throughout the country. All growers can use the chapters on planting bamboo, on harvesting poles, on trimming a grove, and on storing and handling bamboo shoots. Even a few recipes are included, and there is good advice on how to persuade a restaurant or market or food broker to buy fresh shoots. The chapter on site selection is very good on placement of bamboo plants: "on a gentle slope above a flat mowable field and below manure lagoons to take advantage of gravity fed effluent." Of the 204 pages, 83 in the section called Encyclopedia are descriptions of 26 species and varieties of Phyllostachys, but other genera are mentioned only briefly throughout the text. Appropriate information is quoted from ABS founder Richard Haubrich. Information on yield of shoots and poles is given for almost all of these species. Bamboo Farming has some b.-&-w photos and many detailed hand-drawn illustrations. In spite of the regional aim of this book, anyone thinking of growing a large area of bamboo for commer-cial sale will find helpful and accurate information. I take exception to one sentence: "Generally, when a bamboo species starts to flower, all the plants of that species will flower worldwide within one to three years." That applies only to the plants from a single clone; other plants of that species are probably on a dif-ferent time-frame. Contributions for creating Farming Bamboo were given by the American Bamboo Society and by the Texas and Northern California chapters of ABS. Daphne Lewis summarizes the long project below.

Farming Bamboo by Daphne Lewis and Carol Miles This book has been so long in producing that I bet most members don't even know that it was a project supported by the American Bamboo Society. Those who did know wondered if it was a mistake to support this book. Back in the early days, in the 1980's and 90's, I had a bamboo nursery in Seattle, Washington, called first Bamboo Brokerage and later Bamboo Gardens of Washington. It was kind of an accident that I had this nurs-ery. I knew some people who grew bamboo but not any in Washington who sold it. Nurserymen said, "You can't sell bamboo. No one would buy it!" I wanted to create bamboo being available, so I started Bamboo

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Brokerage. I would broker what other people grew. I would provide a service to growers and to the public. Bamboo Brokerage turned out to be a confusing name so after I took on Jeannine Florance as partner, we changed the name to Bamboo Gardens. When Ned Jaquith named his Oregon Nursery, Bamboo Gardens, we became Bamboo Gardens of Washington. The nursery was a modest success. It was open 7 days a week. It managed to meet payroll most weeks. We showed the nursery industry that SOME people would buy bamboo. Actually, our customers did not care about bamboo. They just did not want to see their neighbors and did not want to shade their yard and did not want to take up much space. Heck, people who loved bamboo already had it. "Bamboo for Privacy" became the slogan. "I want a TALL bamboo!" "How tall?" "Oh, twelve feet..." Sheesh... When my partner took over Bamboo Gardens in 1995, I figured I had accomplished my purpose, which was to make bamboo available to the general public and acknowledged in the nursery industry. After all, it is a plant. It is a good thing I left Bamboo Gardens because I wanted a bigger problem than bamboo for privacy. I wanted bamboo to save the world. I wanted bamboo to produce food and wood and fodder. I wanted it to control erosion and to save farms. I wanted bamboo to be accepted by agriculture. I did not know about car-bon sequestration at that time. Herb and Pat Hillery and Carole Malone Meckes caught hold of this vision and invited me to speak at the Texas Bamboo Society's (first?) festival. I came, probably spoke, can't remember, but had a great time in Austin. I stayed with Carole and saw her grove of golden bamboo. In 1996 the Texas Bamboo Society gave me a grant to work on a book about farming bamboo. Hardy Bamboos for Shoots & Poles resulted and be-came the basis for the Encyclopedia in Farming Bamboo. Hardy Bamboos is available from Jim Clever ([email protected]). After the Texas Bamboo Society, ABS gave me a grant. So did the Northern California Chapter, thanks to Ned Jaquith who was visiting and Darrell De Boer who was president. These moneys paid the illustrator Megan Ernst. From 1996 until 2008 is a LONG time to produce a simple book like Farming Bamboo. There are always other things that must be done. And with two authors... I wrote the first draft and sent it to Carol Miles. She took the draft and totally reorganized it. For a year or two we went back and forth with drafts. Then I got too busy to read her stuff and when I finally did read it and find time to make my changes, it went back to Carol. Then she did not have time. If you are Dr. Miles, you are doing crop research that takes you to Japan and Taiwan and Africa as well as Washington State. You give lectures everywhere and you take care of husband and two children. OK: the book took a long time. I like it. Buy it from Lulu Press. (http://www.lulu.com) for $27. If you wish to sell it at your nursery or website, you can order it from me with a minimum of 12 books at $12 each plus shipping. I am now involved in the research bamboo in Puyallup, Washington. These 28 plots are managed by Dr. Craig Cogger and Andy Bary of Washington State University. Dr. Carol Miles helped plant the groves in 2001. Each July after harvest is completed by Wade Bennett, a local farmer, the Pacific Northwest Chapter thins the groves. We have two work parties each summer. We also support the scientists with biannual grants. When these groves mature in 2011, I will rewrite Farming Bamboo. We are generating data that have not been available before. Farmers will be able to plan the economics of growing bamboo with actual home-grown scientific data. The research potential for farmers in these plots is enormous.Daphne Lewis

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Change in Membership ProcedureIn November of 2007, the board of directors authorized a change in the determination of when a

membership expires. Effective July 1, 2008 all membership renewals and new member applications will be valid for one full year from the renewal/join date. This change replaces the previous policy where member-ships received prior to June 30 were valid through the end of that calendar year, while memberships received after June 30 were valid until the end of the next calendar year. Under this new system all members will equally enjoy a full-year of member benefits in the American Bamboo Society.

2008 ABS Annual Meeting in San Francisco“Urban Bamboo” is the theme for the 2008 Annual Meeting of the American Bamboo Society, which will be held at the Zoo in San Francisco. November is the time of the year when San Francisco is at its most beautiful. The weather is mellow (highs 51-64 F, 11 - 18 C) and trees are just starting to take on fall colors, and it is a great time for the ABS Annual meeting.! Members of the Northern California Chapter of the ABS (NCC) are inviting spe-cialists from around the country and the world to this event that will be held at the San Francisco Zoo, located on San Fran-cisco's western shoreline (MAP). The sixty acre Zoo has a well-established bamboo landscape utilizing many species which grow in the unique summer fog for which the region is famous. Participants will be given time to wander the Zoo grounds and enjoy the grand collection of flora and fauna — it's one of the finest Zoos in the nation!The Zoo's Superintendent of Grounds has been a great advocate for bamboo for years (with encouragement from Northern California Chapter member Hastings Schmidt, who donated a great deal of bamboo to the Zoo). The NCC quarantine greenhouse is located on Zoo grounds. The Zoo has a first class meeting facility and a great area for our trade show and plant sales. There is a large indoor space for exhibits and posters, so plan to come exhibit your wares or bring a board to show what you've been up to.! Planned featured presentations include bamboo architecture from Brazil by Celina Llerena; Hui Xue on plants from Yunnan, China -- some of which are surprisingly cold-tolerant; Gerard Minakawa, a Bolivian-American-Japanese sculptor and furniture maker; all tied together with our general theme of “Urban Bam-boo.” Walking tours will focus on urban plantings in San Francisco's downtown as well as the amazing work done in recent years to showcase mountain clumpers in the arboretum at the San Francisco Botanical Garden. All topped off with a party cruise on San Francisco Bay on Saturday night. Many ABS old-timers will remember the 1994 bay cruise with the backdrop of the city's lights reflected off the shimmering waters.

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And for those able to stay in the area on Sunday, 9 November, we have added a bus tour to Bamboo Sourcery Nursery and Gardens in Sebastopol, CA.Mark your calendars for November 7 & 8 - plus the optional days for the ABS events in San Francisco!------2008 ABS Meeting ProgramThursday, November 69am - 5pm: ABS Board Meeting in a Classroom at the SF Zoo -- ABS members welcome as observers.9am - 3pm: Self-guided Tours of Urban Gardens Featuring Bamboo

Friday, November 7Registration At Zoo Education Center 8:00 – 9:30am (click icon for picture)Friday Morning Session9:00 – 9:15: Tom Chiosso – Welcome and overview of bamboo at the Zoo9:15 – 9:45: Dr. Nabil Taha -- Bamboo Structural Engineering9:45 -- 10:00: Kamesh Salam, the director of the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre in India and Presi-dent of the World Bamboo Organization will announce the location of the next International Bamboo Con-ference.10:00 -- 10:30:10:30 – 11:15: Gib Cooper of Bamboo of the Americas project – Urban Chusquea collection in Quito, Ecua-dor Foothill11:30 – 1:00: Lunch (included in registration fee)12:15 – 1:00: Tour the Bamboos at the Zoo with LukeFriday Afternoon Session1:00 – 1:45pm: Wolfgang Eberts - Bamboo in Europe Foothill1:45 – 2:30: Celina Llerena - Bamboo Architecture in Brazil Foothill3:00 – 3:45: Gerard Minakawa – Large bamboo sculpture Foothill and furniture in the U.S. and Bolivia3:45 – 4:30: Jimmy Triplett – Hanky-Panky in the Temperate Bamboos5:00 – 6:00pm at the Mother's Building Foothill : Evening Reception and Poster session with the speakers (included with registration)

Saturday Morning Session9:00 – 9:30 Jinhe Fu – New Uses For Bamboo9:30 – 10:15: Hui Xue – Several lifetimes of bamboo ethnobotanical images from southwest China Foothill10:30 – 11:30: Lynn Clark - American Bamboo News11:30 – 1:00: Lunch (included in registration fee)[Silent Auction: If held, will be ongoing Saturday AM, ending at 2:15pm]Saturday Afternoon Events1:00 – 2:00: American Bamboo Society General Membership Meeting2:15 – 2:30: Announcement of Silent Auction winners (if held)2:30 – 4:30: Live Bamboo Auction (begun as an online auction on October 19th)Empress Hornblower 6:30pm: Unbelievable San Francisco Bay Dinner Cruise aboard the Hornblower Em-press (we have the whole vessel, which will hold 100 for dinner). We expect that tickets will sell out, so get on board ASAP!

Sunday, November 9

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9am - 5pm: Tour to Bamboo Sourcery Nursery and Gardens (Sebastopol) via bus, 56 person capacity. Sepa-rate registration form is available via the registration page.

Workshops - ongoing at the Mother's building Foothill during the following times:Friday8:00am – 11:30am: Alfonso and Rubi Rangel, Bamboo Objects. Craftspeople from Mexico who run work-shops just to spread the bamboo gospel to as many people as possible. Their goal is to build simple objects to engage the imagination of as many people as possible.1:00pm – 4:00pm: Martin Coto, Bamboo Furniture. Master craftsman from Costa Rica with 30 years experi-ence. We have sponsored 5 workshops with Martin and every participant will attest to the great command he has over the material. Particularly interesting are the jigs and tools he puts together.Saturday9:00am -- 12:00pm: Bamboo 101 – members of NCC/ABS will demonstrate division, control, and answer questions about this special place where we can grow more species than anywhere else in the country.1:00pm - 4:00pm: Bamboo craft/sculpture – Gerard Minakawa, Martin Coto, the Bamboosmiths, Kevin Rowell, Marisha FarnsworthAnnounced Workshops, as yet Unscheduled:Craig Calfee, bicycle designer/builder will show both his custom bamboo racing/mountain bikes as well as a very affordable system for local bike use that he set up in Ghana. Of special interest are the joints he devel-oped of natural fiber and epoxy which are by far the strongest joint ever done in bamboo.

Presenter Notes: Tom Chiosso is the San Francisco Zoo's Superintendent of Grounds and is largely responsible for our great location for the meeting. He has made his interest in using bamboo in Zoo landscaping, both inside and out-side of animal enclosures, a reality. Dr. Nabil Taha, P.E. - President of Precision Structural Engineering, Inc., has done the structural design of more bamboo buildings than anyone in this country, Nabil will present his experiences. http://www.structure1.com/personnel.htm Gib Cooper, Director of Bamboo of the Americas, will show the new Chusquea bamboo planted in a pub-lic park in Quito, Ecuador. Please read the article "Andean Bamboo Living Collections for Urban Ecuador". Celina Llerena has uploaded these videos from Brazil. Gerard Minakawa is a Bolivian-American-Japanese sculptor and furniture maker. Dr. Jinhe Fu is the current International ABS Director and INBAR program manager. His website: http://www.geocities.com/zhuzi.geo/. Hui Xue, using many of her father's images, will describe plants from Yunnan, China -- some of which are surprisingly cold-tolerant. And Susanne Lucas (past President, ABS; Director, World Bamboo Organization) writes: I'm happy to say that my colleague, Kamesh Salam, the director of the Cane and Bamboo Technology Centre and President of the World Bamboo Organization, is coming to the meeting. His purpose is to announce the upcoming World Bamboo Conference to be held in Bangkok, Thailand in September 2009. The support, activities and enthu-siasm in Southeast Asia brings the WBC to Thailand. We have the governmentt of Thailand, UNIDO and Kasetsart University as co-sponsors and supporters.(The program, dates, and times may be subject to change.----------

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HOUSING FOR THE AMERICAN BAMBOO SOCIETY2008 ANNUAL MEETING NOVEMBER 7 - 8, 2008Please consider arriving on Wednesday, November 5 and spend Thursday enjoying the walking tour of bam-boo plantings in San Francisco.OCEAN PARK MOTELOfficial Conference Housing 2690 46th Avenue, SF, 94116 Phone: (415) 566-7020 Email: [email protected]

Parking is included in the price, and the public transportation, MUNI L-Taraval line, will take you to downtown San Francisco. Amenities include an outdoor jacuzzi. Seasonally adjusted rates range from $90-$110 for one queen; from $100-$125 for a queen and twin and from $125-$175 for two to three queen-bed units. Fully equipped kitchens are $15-$20 ex-tra with a four-day minimum stay, or on a space-available basis.Reserve early to get the accommodations you wish.

DAYS INN at the BEACHAlternate Conference Housing 2600 Sloat Blvd., SF, 94116 Phone: (415) 665-9000, hit "0" for front desk ** Call on Weekdays; ask for Harry ** ** Do not call the 800# ** FAX: (415) 665-5440 Email: [email protected] Literally across the street from Zoo grounds, this is the "alternate motel". Five single-bed and 15 two-bed rooms have been reserved for ABS2008 guests at $85 - $95, which is roughly $50 off the regular rates. Wheelchair-accessible and smoking rooms are available. The "held until" date has not been fixed yet. Includes parking, continental breakfast, high-speed Internet access. All rooms have a small fridge, coffee service and a microwave.

To register online, go to http://abs2008.davidgking.com/registration.html

Registration admits one person to all podium presentations (Friday and Saturday), the poster session, the ABS General Membershoip Meeting (Saturday), the Rare Bamboo Auction and the Silent Auction, as well as the self-guided Urban Bamboo Tour on Thursday.Meals for paid registrants will be provided Friday noon and Saturday noon. You are on your own for the eve-ning meal Friday, but the dining options in San Francisco are endless!Admission and Parking at the San Francisco Zoo will be included on Friday and Saturday.Tickets to the optional Saturday Evening Dinner Cruise on San Francisco Bay aboard the Empress Horn-blower are purchased separately. Please note that a limited number of tickets are available since the boat's dining capacity is about 100 persons. Therefore tickets will be limited to paid registrants on a first-come, first-served basis until 9 October 2008, after which ticket sales will open up for accompanying persons.REFUND POLICY: Requests for refunds of the registration fee will be accepted until 31 October 2008; a $25 handling fee will be deducted.

Golden Gate Bridge photo by Rich Niewiroski Jr. www.projectrich.com/gallery licensed under Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 License.

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Advertising in ABS PublicationsAds are placed on a prepaid basis only. There are currently 3 options available for advertising:BAMBOO: $100./calendar year – six issues – busi-ness card size only (3 ½” wide x 2” tall)$20. per issue (if advertising for less than one year)Membership Direc-tory:

$50. business-card sized ad (3 ½” wide x 2” tall)$100. ½ page ad (7 ½” wide x 4 ¾” tall)$200. full page ad (7 ½” wide x 10” tall)Bamboo Species Source List: $100. business-card sized ads only (3 ½” wide x 2” tall)Take a 10% discount off your total cost if you advertise in all three publications --if paid by the published dead-line of September 15. (Complete year ads only in BAMBOO).You must be a member of ABS to ad-vertise in our publications. If you wish to advertise in any ABS publications and are not a member, please include an extra $40. for ABS membership with your check for your ad. The ABS Advertising Invoice may be downloaded from the website or by contacting the Treasurer.All ads must be paid in full by September 15 if cur-rent year Membership Directory is included. Oth-erwise, please pay for ads by December 15 for in-clusion in the following year's publications.Please mail your check made out to ABS to:Sue Turtle – ABS Treasurer, 30 Myers Road, Sum-mertown, TN 38483-7323Ads may be sent in hard copy form to the address above, or electronic (image file) form. Image files must be 300 dpi RGB in .psd, .ai, or .tif format. Email image files to

[email protected] with a copy to: [email protected] (for all BAMBOO Magazine ads) and a copy to [email protected] (for all Bamboo Species Source list ads).

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Precision Structural Engineering, Inc.

Structural Engineering for Bamboo Building

!Bamboo Buildings! Structural Insulated Panels (SIP’s) !" ! Domes & Yurts ! Coffee Shops ! Light Gauge Steel Homes ! !Log Buildings!Straw Bale Buildings ! And much more…

Free Initial Consultation! (541) 850-6300

We are Licensed in many States.

www.structure1.com

On the Covers:Front: Fargesia nitida flowers, Nova Scotia, by Mike Clutson. Photo provided by John Weagle, Halifax, NS.Back: silhouette of Bambusa oldhami, planted by George Shor in Dixon CA in mid-1990’s

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American Bamboo SocietyOfficers and DirectorsPresident: Brad Salmon, Mid-States ChapterVice President: Ned Jaquith, Pacific Northwest ChapterSecretary: David King, Northern California ChapterTreasurer: Sue Turtle, Southeast Chapter

Board of Directors and Standing Positions• Florida/Caribbean Chapter RepresentativeSteve Stampere-mail - [email protected] Term 2010.• Hawaii Chapter RepresentativeLennart Lundstrome-mail - [email protected] Term 2008.• Louisiana-Gulf Coast Chapter Representative(no chapter representative)e-mail - [email protected]. Term 2009.• Mid-States ChapterDon Foxe-mail - [email protected]• Northeast Chapter RepresentativeMichael Bartholomewe-mail - [email protected] Term 2008.• Northern California Chapter RepresentativeDavid Kinge-mail - [email protected] Term 2008.• Oregon Chapter RepresentativeIan Connore-mail - [email protected] Term 2010.• Pacific Northwest Chapter RepresentativeBill Hollenbacke-mail – [email protected]. Term 2009.• Southeast Chapter RepresentativeC. William Kinge-mail - [email protected] Term 2010

• Southern California Chapter RepresentativeCliff Sussmane-mail - [email protected] Term 2010.• Texas Chapter RepresentativeSteve Muzose-mail - [email protected] Term 2009.• Tierra Seca Chapter(no chapter representative) Contact: John Paltingemail – [email protected]• At-Large Representatives

Brad Salmone-mail - [email protected] Term 2010.Ned Jaquithe-mail - [email protected] Term 2009.Michael JamesLongemail - [email protected] Term 2008.

• International RepresentativeDr. Jinhe Fuemail – [email protected] Term 2009

ABS TreasurerSue Turtlee-mail - [email protected] .ABS Web Site - www.americanbamboo.orgBarry Abrahamsen - Web Site Editore-mail - [email protected] of journal: Bamboo Science & CultureJohan Gielise-mail - johan.gielis.rug.ac.beArts & Crafts CoordinatorNancy Besse-mail – [email protected]

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This Application is for a: ! New Membership! Renewal! Gift Membership (we will notify the

recipient)! Check this box if you DO NOT want to be in-cluded in the ABS Annual Membership

listingDate _________________________Name(s)________________________________Address 1 _______________________________Address 2_______________________________City________________________ State _______Zip _____________ Country _______________Home Tel _______________________________Work Tel _______________________________Fax ____________________________________Other __________________________________E-mail __________________________________WWW __________________________________

o Annual: $40 - Includes a 1-year PrimaryChapter membership

o 3-year: $110 - Includes 3-year Primary Chap-ter for North American members; additional Chapters: $40 each for the 3-year period

o Lifetime: $600 - Includes ABS membership only

o Supporting: $60 - Includes a 1-year Primary Chapter membership

o Patron: $120 (tax-deductible) - Includes a 1-year Chapter membership

o International $40 (outside North America; no Chapter included)

o Additional Chapters: $15/year for each Chap-ter (Please check Chapter listing at right)

TOTAL $____________________

Discover/Mastercard/Visa Authorization:

Account # ______ ______ ______ ______Expiration Date ______________Signature_______________________________

Send this form with completed credit cardauthorization, or your check payable to:

American Bamboo Society315 South Coast Highway 101, Suite U

PMB 212Encinitas, CA 92024-3555

Each year’s membership includes:• A subscription to the newsletter of your primary chapter (and those of any additional chapters you join)• 6 issues of BAMBOO: The Magazine of theAmerican Bamboo Society• An annual edition of the ABS Journal: Bamboo Sci-ence and Culture• The ABS Species Source List• The Annual ABS Membership DirectoryChoose your Primary Chapter membership,and any Additional Chapter membershipsP A

Florida Caribbean Chapter Hawaii Chapter Louisiana-Gulf Coast Chapter Mid-States Chapter Northeast Chapter Northern California Chapter Oregon Bamboo Assoc. Chapter Pacific Northwest Chapter Southeast Chapter Southern California Chapter Texas Bamboo Society Chapter Tierra Seca Chapter

American Bamboo Society Membership & Directory Information Form

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American Bamboo Society 315 South Coast Highway 101,

Suite U PMB 212

Encinitas, CA 92024-3555

Presort StandardUS Postage

PAIDPermit #370Albany, NY

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BAMBOO€¦ · This is a common myth; my theory is that native North American bamboo is often found...

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