Early in February I shot a few pictures of
this garden and promised a follow-up once it was in Summer mode. Well it’s only late April but there are already signs of the owners taking the public space (driveway) and making it private, all they needed was a little Bamboo! Happy heathy Bamboo...
Love the knobby canes…
A few more pictures of this garden…
Same day, same walk, different house. I suddenly felt that I’d ended up in the middle of some strange experiment, an alien landing pad maybe. What other explanation could there be for a front yard full of this many solar lights? I counted at least 18.
And why are the pink flamingoes in the trees? We’ve had some windy days but nothing strong enough to send poor flamingoes hither and yon!
Finally, walk almost over; nearing home I see a very healthy patch of the dreaded Bishops Weed.
Inching it’s toward my house…noooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's funny that once you have gone through the ordeal of removing Bishop's Weed that you begin to see it everywhere - and are horrified! I think it is the big-box type stores that sell this evil weed. Portland nursery wouldn't even let me take it out of the plastic bag when I brought it by for identification a few years ago. I think they wanted me off their property until I disposed of it properly.
ReplyDeleteScott (Rhone Street Gardens) mentioned seeing it at a nursery not to long ago...I should have asked which one! Heck...now I'm thinking I should make up little labels about how evil this plant is and carry them with me...
DeleteOh, I like the flamingos in the trees. Someone has a sense of humor there. The solar lights are strange though. I thought maybe at first they were just amassing them in a central spot cause they weren't sure how many they had or what they were going to do with them. But then I saw they did have some spread out a bit. Hmmmm...
ReplyDeleteI too laughed at the flamingos...but just don't get the lights. Another one I'll have to follow up on.
DeleteLove the bamboo. It looks like golden bamboo or Phyllostachys aurea. It's a common species but I think it's very decorative.
ReplyDeleteI actually like the flamingo in the tree--it certainly gets people to stop and take notice. But the solar lamps on the lawn, that's a bit creepy. Are they trying to send a signal to an alien spacecraft??? Or maybe they were just trying them out to see which ones still work.
Gerhard
Exactly! An alien communication. I swear I'll walk by there in a couple of weeks and the house will be gone. Just an empty hole.
DeleteBTW Ricki is asking about the bulging Bamboo, is that normal for the species?
Yep, the bulges (compressed internodes) is typical for this species. It's what makes it so interesting.
DeleteI love seeing them reclaiming that space for better (or at least more-fun) use! I still have to get another stock tank for our privacy bamboo we got a few weeks ago. I wonder what's up with all those lights...bizarre.
ReplyDeleteI'm currently fighting the urge to get another stock tank...really 11 should be enough don't you think?
DeleteI like bamboo and thankfully bamboo likes my climate. I think Gerhard is right about what kind it is. They grow pretty quickly though and those tubs will be very full soon.
ReplyDeleteThat big clump of Viburnum davidii is very healthy looking as well. I grow them here as I love the leaves and I am hoping that one day I will get those lovely blue berries.
The 18 solar lights made me chuckle, WTF (excuse my language) is going on there? LOL!
I wanted to say the same as you (WTF) but since I know my mom reads my blog on occasion I did not.
DeleteThey didn't think they had a privacy problem until some pedestrians kept taking photos of their house.
ReplyDelete;-)
Hahaha
DeleteThe bumpy bamboo is strange and wonderful. I wonder if that is an anomaly. It would be just my luck to get some and have it never do the bulging bit (Gerhard?)
ReplyDeleteIf Mr Bamboo doesn't reply I've got his email!
DeleteMy favorite bamboo was at Thomas Edison's winter home in Florida. Here I have something called "Heavenly Bamboo" but nothing with interesting canes.
ReplyDeleteAnd as you probably know Heavenly Bamboo isn't Bamboo at all but rather Nandina. What zone are you? I know when I was living in Spokane (zone 5) there was at least one Bamboo that was sort of hardy there.
DeleteI wonder how hardy this bamboo is?
ReplyDeleteResearch "lite" says zone 7...not particularly hardy.
DeleteScary hardy! Zone7
DeleteThose solar lights are interesting. I think you are onto something with some sort of alien landing pad. I don't think ill be trying that one out anytime soon. I love the idea of growing bamboo in pots for privacy. I'm leery about planting too much bamboo given its propensity to go ape wild here so that is a perfect solution!
ReplyDeleteWe've got our Bamboo growing in big stock tanks (the metal ones you would fill with water for animals) and so far so good at keeping it contained.
DeleteNever a dull moment when you walk through a Portland neighborhood! I saw some Bishop's Weed in CA and it made me think of you. Sorry about that association. I will try to get rid of it.
ReplyDeleteI don't mind the association, but hopefully you also thought of me when you saw Agaves!
DeleteThey actually did a nice job with the whole garage, driveway situation! I love that you take pictures of gardens you see. It makes me chuckle every time. : ) Funny solar lights...maybe a front lawn charging station. : )
ReplyDeleteI'm kind of waiting for the day I get asked what I'm doing with the camera...
DeleteInstant screening! I think their choice of bamboo for the purpose is perfect!
ReplyDeleteShortly after I took these pictures I saw some Bamboo planted for privacy around the outside eating area at a little neighborhood restaurant. It was the opposite of this. Not done well at all. Small containers (maybe a foot high and wide and 4-6 ft long) giving the Bamboo very little space to grow and stretch out it's roots. Naturally it was a very unhappy looking bunch (yellow, few leaves).
DeleteMy theory is they are comparing light output with all the different solar designs. The flamingos in the trees are just for fun! Beautiful bamboo plantings. I think I need to splurge on some cooler bamboo for our half barrels...what's in them now (the ousted running bamboo) is not very happy.
ReplyDeleteWhy do people hate bamboo? I don't have any so I really don't know. I think it's beautiful and sounds so nice when the wind blows.
ReplyDeleteI just bought a home in Illinois. There is a major problem with a piece of cement poured right outside a window. Can I grow bamboo in a container on cement? Will it winter over? If so what variety?
ReplyDeleteJust an FYI...the bamboo is generally called Buddha Bamboo here in Florida. And there are two kinds of bamboo...running (which tends to spread and take over) and clumping (which tends to stay in one place but it does grow, too, just not so out of control). Hope this helps a little...
ReplyDeleteThose solar lights remind me of the time the neighbor kids collected all of the realtor signs in the area and posted them in a single yard. A prank maybe?
ReplyDelete