WORDLESS WEDNESDAY: Unfolding bamboo shoots

 

 

bangchik

Bamboo a treasure.

 

 

 

 

location:

where I grew, Pantai Remis, Perak

Now, I am back, two weeks earlier than scheduled.  One month and a half absence is over. For the moment, I may not be able to write new things about the garden or the adventure I had gone through with Kakdah. I am nursing sore heels and legs and adjusting to the old hot and wet weather. The adjustment will be over in no time I think. I am presenting the memories of the old days for today's post.

Among us, we call these buluh buncit. The more appropriate name is buddha belly bamboo. To be more scientific, lets call these bambusa ventricosa. My late dad went over to Langkawi to visit his youngest brother Pak Su some twenty years ago, and he brought home a bamboo cutting. The bamboo grew ever since. They really look like an army of swollen bellies...

I grew up here, in a place called Pantai Remis. The old house is still there. The bamboo still standing, guarding the old house and the memories..... Notice the white sandy soil?... yea, it took me a while to realise that not all earth is sandy!!

~bangchik

Putrajaya, Malaysia.

A home-made bamboo screen

Kakdah complained about her hanging garden being too exposed to sunlight during second half of the day. We decided to put up a bamboo screen...... I just framed them up and tied with wire, did some paintwork and varnish. Now the screen can block half the intensity....

I think Kakdah is looking for something more decent ... hmmm... Oh well.......

some are painted black
and
some are varnished

the top half

the lower half

against the sky



it blocks the rain too...

Culling bamboo for being invasive

They are lovely and beautiful if growth is restrained and planted for a specific purpose. In the wild, they will follow the pattern of survival of the fittest. Call it invasive if we like, but the natural truth remains intact, species are fighting for a little space.., they are just very territorial and tribal in nature like us, people or humans.

Bamboo too are culled for being too invasive, making the space available for something else... This photo was taken by the roadside somewhere in Gerik during my recent travel.

I suppose
they just let the bamboo rot...

Batik bamboo, white and green

We have been keeping batik bamboo in pots for a long long time. These bamboo grow at a very slow rate and they will take a couple of years to congest the pot. We have two species, one with a more green and the other with more white on the leaves... They are nice and sweet in their own way. We water them daily.

more green

more white

Bamboo is cool and inviting!

This is the side entrance to Alamanda Shopping Centre in Putrajaya. The designer was very confident playing with nature and placed rows of bamboo on both sides. I thought they are lovely, cool and very inviting!!

side entrance.
for padestrians, look at how bamboos slender stems meet at the top
and forming almost a beautiful arch

Putrajaya is a new administrative capital of Malaysia. The town is fairly modern, and they had put real thought on how this place should blend; roads, buildings, parks, shopping complex, lakes, green lungs etc... I am lucky to be here, living, working and gardening.....