How to Grow Bamboo
Bamboo is a mysterious and elusive plant that baffles taxonomists who try to contain it within a botanical class and gardeners who 
try to contain it within a limited garden space as they learn how to grow bamboo. For many years, bamboo was thought to be a primitive grass but recent DNA testing has shown it to be one of the most highly evolved forest grasses. There are over 1200 forms of bamboo that grow in a broad spectrum of color including the familiar green and gold as well as burgundy, blue and even black grasses. Some varieties of bamboo can grow up to a foot a day and ultimately reach 130 feet tall while the smallest bamboo cultivar attains only six inches of growth.
The first step in learning how to grow bamboo is picking a cultivar and beginning to unravel its many mysteries. While most of us picture tall stands of green and golden canes growing in tropical bamboo forests, bamboo cultivars range from the temperate to the tropical. As well as diversity in cultivar, bamboo has over 1500 documented uses that range from use in construction to the making of acupuncture needles and from agricultural fodder to the making of musical instruments. Until they are cut, bamboos stems are properly called culms and not canes. In India bamboo plants are commonly called the “Wood of the poor” and in China the” friend of the people”. To add to the confusion, a cultivar commonly sold as “lucky bamboo” isn’t bamboo at all but a type of lily from the Dracaena family!
Unluckily for bamboo, it has the reputation for being an invasive plant, growing from running rhizomes. Although this is true for some cultivars, the most cold-hardy plants don’t run at all, but grow from well-behaved clumps with well-established root systems. One thing that bamboo cultivars do have in common is that they are perennial plants. As noted above, some bamboos varieties are temperate and some are tropical. Because its diversity, it’s easy to find a suitable cultivar when you want to learn how to grow bamboo. Bamboo cultivars range from those that grow indoors to outdoors, in a garden or in a container, in bright light or shade. Read the rest of this entry »
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Geodesic Dome Greenhouse: History
Man has always tried to find ways to alter nature to his advantage. He collected seed and prepared land to sow it in, and he caught and tamed animals to raise for meat and milk. To try to increase the length of the growing season so food was available for longer, and to grow plants from warmer climates, man developed the greenhouse.
The Romans were the first recorded pioneers of the greenhouse. The emperor Tiberius ate a cucumber-like vegetable daily, and artificial methods of growing were used to make this available. The plants were wheeled into the sun by day, and stored at night in warm conditions. They used fires outside a building to increase the internal temperatures, and later semi-transparent mica was used to cover the roof of buildings containing the plants.
Not until the 13th century, after glass had been invented, were the roman records of their work discovered, and the first greenhouses began to appeared in Italy. The first modern greenhouses (called botanical gardens) were built to house the exotic plants that explorers brought back from the tropics. With the growth of the science of botany, greenhouses spread from the estates of the rich to the universities. The French called their first greenhouses ‘orangeries’, since they were first used to grow oranges in cool climates. They were later used for pineapples and other exotic plants.
Early greenhouse designs were of wood and stone or brick, built on south facing walls, and heated. Due to a glass tax (window tax) very little glass was used at this time, but once this tax was removed in the 19th century, a whole range of glass houses appeared. Steel work replaced wood, and designs became more complicated. Examples of this are the buildings at Kew Gardens, the Palm House, and the Crystal Palace built in 1851 Read the rest of this entry »
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The Geelong Botanic Gardens
Scattered around rural Victoria are some very interesting Botanic Gardens. One of these hidden treasures is the new Geelong Botanic 
Contemporary Gardens situated at the rural gateway to Western Victoria. The concept of a drought tolerant garden was created by Chris Dance and was implemented by John Arnott. It is stunning, exciting and truly modern. It is 21st century gardening at the cutting edge.
The new contemporary site is in front of the 19th century gardens and is positioned on the side of the hill overlooking the Corio Bay. There is a strong connection to the port of Geelong, with bow like structures reach out into the waterhole and they remind you of the front of a ship.
This new modern garden is absolutely fabulous and inspiring. John Arnott explained that it is full of ideas that we can apply our own gardens. The Geelong Gardens are special, they reflect two different centuries and they do it well. Many times you see the modern and tradition jarring each other but here at Geelong the two marry superbly because the design has created a contrast between the two era’s and there is transition point rather than a transition zone. It is black and white you are either in the 21st century or the 19th century.
Gardening in Australia in the 21st century is changing. No longer do we have the resources to create the green oasis style gardens of the 19th century. The 21st century gardens at Geelong reflect this. The Geelong area has a below average rainfall and has been suffering drought for over 7 years. The idea of the contemporary gardens is to capture people’s imagination and prompt an intellectual conversation about the challenges of today. The 21st garden is not comfortable and tranquil. It is challenges our idea of what a garden is. It is showing casing how to use attractive drought tolerant plants from around the world as well as Australian ones and create a sustainable garden. Read the rest of this entry »
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