Monday, February 3, 2014

An unexpected visit to Bamboo Craftsman...

Last week when I visited Solabee and Salvage Works I strolled a little further down the street and wandered into the new location for Bamboo Craftsman.

Even though their old location was (sort of) in my neighborhood I'd never been inside, just peered in after hours. I have enjoyed their fun colorful booth at the Yard Garden & Patio show, so that gave me an idea what I might discover in this huge, former parking lot.

Wait, before we go any further you must bring up Earl Grant singing House of Bamboo and listen to it while you walk through with me, trust me, do it!

I want this!!!

Lordy, that's some tall bamboo.

If we had the space I'd love a little hut like this in the back garden.

Especially if we could sleep out there on warm nights.

Isn't this place fun?

Because I knew Alan would be upset if I completely ignored the bamboo which was for sale I took this photo. I can tell you the one on the right was $59 and on the left $79.

And here's what they can tell you, about the one on the left.

Wow!

Yes I should have climbed up there, I have no idea why I didn't.

When I first arrived someone was hard at work scrubbing clean the large corrugated panels. Not a fun job but necessary.

I ducked inside for a quick look around. Pretty much anything and everything you could need, bamboo-wise I mean.

So glad I stopped in...

Ignore the address if you're local and looking to visit, that's the old location. They're now at 2104 N Willis Blvd.

All material © 2009-2014 by Loree Bohl for danger garden. Unauthorized reproduction prohibited and just plain rude.

20 comments:

  1. What a cool place! I love those huge bamboo stars. I sometimes think it would be lovely to sleep outside under the stars in the summer, but I'm not sure it gets really warm enough for that. Plus, there's raccoons. I don't want to wake up to find one rummaging around the area.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh it definitely gets warm enough here. There were times, before we had a/c, that we almost slept on the lounge chairs outside. However you're right...raccoons and other critters are a definite deterrent.

      Delete
  2. Nice surprise! Thanks for stopping, and for showing some of the plants. :) I may have a lot of extra canes this year (due to the arctic cold which probably killed lots of the existing culms) so I may try making some big sculptures from them.

    Oh, I probably would not have climbed up into that tower either... how is that even staying upright?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh I hope you do! (yikes...make sculptures that is, not have lots of dead canes). Maybe subconscious concern about how it was staying upright it what kept me from climbing...

      Delete
  3. I listened to the song, as suggested. Made me laugh, which I needed. I just took a 4 hour test (GRE). Thanks for the pick-me-up!

    I would have climbed up that tower! Can I get one of those at my place?

    Alan, since you have all that extra bamboo, try making one of these: http://bulletin.ncsu.edu/2013/05/dragon-brings-landscape-to-life/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yay! I am so glad you did. I love love love that song. If ever in a bad mood it is guaranteed to help pull me out of it. Wow...really? That dragon is made of bamboo!?? Did you see it in person?

      Delete
    2. It really is! And it's huge! I've been living near Raleigh since last May, so I've been to the J.C. Raulston Arboretum a few times. I couldn't believe the dragon was made of bamboo. There is so much bamboo growing around the Raleigh-Durham area (and other areas of the East Coast) because people started growing the running types before it became obvious that they could become an environmental nightmare. Thus it is quite readily available and in need of harvesting for purposes like this!

      Delete
  4. Looks like an ace neighborhood for wandering. I'm on my way...once it warms up.
    I do not understand why things that grow so uber-vigorously often come with such high prices.
    What's up with that?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I agree! How black mondo grass has maintained it's high price is something I've wondered for awhile!

      Delete
  5. They have loads of seriously cool structures in there! And that hut looks so much, even more so when I saw there's a bed in it, how cool would it be to sleep in it on warm summer evenings!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I wonder how many years they've been collecting and building them? Should have asked...

      Delete
  6. This place is uber cool! We all need a tiki hut in our gardens and I think that gargage of yours would be perfect! I bet that Andrew could think of a way to put a sliding door on the garden sice so that you could open it in the summer and close it up again in the winter. You could hide the things that you need to store there with some cool bamboo screening and still have space for a bed. How about a futon so that it could be a fun couch during the day and a bed at night? The double decker top heavy deck looks way cool but I'd be scared too!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. We've actually joked about doing that, after all there is a door at the back of our garage too! I guess there used to be an alley running through our block and you could enter the garage from the front or off the alley.

      Delete
  7. I want that lookout tower that looks like an inverted triangle. How cool would that be?

    What a great place. I'm glad you stopped and took photos.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You could scout out around Davis for miles! Maybe hook up a zip line off it too...

      Delete
  8. Nice musical accompaniment to the tour! I like bamboo yet I've never purchased any - it may be a reaction to the small grove of the stuff growing outside my bedroom window when I was a kid, apparently selected to screen out the neighbors but succeeding mainly to screen out light. I would like to have that large Buddha, though, complete with the hat and scarf.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Glad you enjoyed the tune! Yes, I suppose growing up with it encroaching on your personal space and blocking your light/view of the sky would certainly put a negative feeling towards bamboo in your heart. Still I would imagine you could grow lots of fabulous varieties in your climate!

      Delete
  9. I have to remember them for the next time I need those really beefy bamboo stakes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For when you build your bamboo pergola to block out the neighbors?

      Delete
  10. Well, that's a pretty cool place. I love the bamboo stars, and the tiered hut is amazing -- but a little scary too. I can see why you didn't think to climb up.

    ReplyDelete

Thank you for taking the time to comment. Comment moderation is on (because you know: spam), I will approve and post your comment as soon as possible!