ABC book continues…B isfor
B is for Bamboo
I love nature. I just couldn’t begin to name all the plants
I adore. On the other hand the
list of those, I’m not too crazy about is a bit shorter. It contains ones like poison ivy and
oak, and maybe the thorns on blackberry vines and roses, but at the top of the
list sits the seemingly unimpressive Bamboo. Why you ask?
First of all bamboo grows at an alarming rate, yes, science
fiction movie speed. I swear it
grows two feet every day until it reaches heights of 50 feet. Who needs magic beans when bamboo is around? Trying to reign in this science
experiment of the plant world is an exercise in futility. In fact my husband just spent his
entire vacation in an effort to tame the forest.
 |
| A few hours growth! |
No-- we didn’t plant it, a neighbor behind our property made
that mistake. You see bamboo sends out underground shoots that laugh at
fences. If you don’t have a pet
panda, planting bamboo will be a huge bamboo-boo. Unless of course, you are
starting a business making bamboo furniture, fishing poles or plant stakes, all
of which are great uses for the stuff.
So there’s the positive, however, I’m not planning that sort of thing so I
guess I will just continue to try and contain the stuff as best I can.
You have to drop by and read my panda story today, they use a lot of bamboo!
ReplyDeleteWhen we first moved into our house 20+ years ago, we thought about planting some as a wind break/privacy barrier. Fortunately, my husband's cousin warned us of its invasive nature! (Secretly, however, I probably would enjoy making things with it)
ReplyDeletebamboo invokes memories of when I was a girl living in Japan and the bamboo forests next to where we lived we enormous. I still love bamboo to this day, and we have some smaller varieties here on the farm, not the huge ones you do :)
ReplyDeleteYes, bamboo will completely take over. I do like bamboo though. Trying to keep it under control is almost impossible because of the travelling roots. Good luck. Nice to see you.
ReplyDeleteIf you think bamboo is scary then you've never had to face down blackberries.
ReplyDeleteA decade ago they took over my entire yard and it was years before we could get rid of them completely and then even more years before we could replant. Now I see they're trying to make a come back.
I think B should be for blackberries.
This is amazing! I wonder if it could grow here? But, even if it did, maybe I shouldn't because I would be the one controlling it! LOL! I still think it would be cool to look at!
ReplyDeleteYou know what, I was just thinking, maybe you could rent a panda from the zoo for a day, every month :O) LOL!
ReplyDeleteYou know what, Crystal - I have bamboo canes in my shed, bamboo chairs in the bedroom and I never gave a thought to where or how it grows! I had no idea it grew in Virginia - I suppose I assumed it only grew in the Far East, to feed the pandas! Silly me :D
ReplyDelete