...kids want to see bamboo, good one!

PA is a bit too far, but I could post a few pictures of the yellow groove I took recently at the Pittsburgh zoo.

Rick

Zoos and botanical gardens are usually a good bet. Driving around searching for random boo sounds like a waste of time.

eg, San Antonio Zoo has some big bamboos, and good variety, plus tons of palms, I think mostly due to the zoo's botanical director of many years, Tony Poncik, now with the SA Botanical Garden (where the bamboo is very limited, so far).

two places that are really great places to visit for adults as well as kids are the fort worth botanical gardens (http://www.fwbg.org/index2.htm) and the fort worth zoo (http://www.fortworthzoo.com/). both have lots and lots of bamboo varieties! of course, i would suggest you come by my place and remove about 300 of 'em to take back with you but i know that it asking for too much! enjoy the trip to texas! dress cool!
jmac

Houston Zoo - Has lot's of varieties growing. But something impressive is the monster clumper around the primate exhibit. I believe it may be Dendrocalamus giganteus, but not sure. Does anyone else around houston know what kind of bamboo this is...Don't make me talk to the monkeys:)

Mercer Arboretum - close to houston off I45. Great for family too. They have some nice bamboos stands and much more.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mercer

Missouri botanical gardens is good. It's rated 2nd in the nation behind Longwood Gardens in Pa. The Memphis zoo is good also. You could check out Jim Bonner in Mississippi. He's the owner of Bamboo Plantation in Brookhaven, MS. He has about 260 varieties of bamboo under cultivation. Have a safe trip. Let us know how it goes.
Best Regards,
Anthony in Tn.

Mike maybe you could stop off and pay a visit to Brad. I don't know how off the beaten path he is but if i had the chance i would try and stop. Have a safe trip. take lots of pics.

Kurt

Thanks for the great suggestions. That gives me plenty of ideas. I might need to add an extra day or two to see all that. :) I definitely will have the camera along to record the good sights. I guess I better try not drive around aimlessly looking for random 'boo. ;) I was starting to get the impression it grows all over in the South. All the talk of rhizome barrier and bamboo gone wild made me think it must be everywhere. I promise I'll try not to post photos of Giant Reed or Knotweed and ask what kind of bamboo it is.

Kurt, I thought that too if I am lucky enough to be in Indiana while Brad is around it would be a great place to visit. It's kind of a loosely structured roadtrip. :)

Thuja - I'll second Dougiefresh's recommendations and add Zilker BG in Austin. The TBS are having a bamboo festival there on 27 & 28 Aug if you are still around then.

Lastly, you may want to get in touch with Kinder Chambers at the link below to see if you might be able to visit his place near Temple, TX. He has a lot of decent sized bamboo, both clumpers and runners. His Ph. viridis is over 3' in diameter now.

Mike near Brenham TX

Here is a link that might be useful: Texas Bamboo Society

There are Arundinaria sp. stands growing along Hwy 59 between Houston and Shreveport, or there used to be...

sea ya
tami

I might need to stay for the winter. :) Thanks.

Mike, the man whoose brain I vacuum for bamboo info lives in TN, about an hour & a half SW of Nashville. He is arguably the most knowledgeable/experienced cold zone bamboo grower in the US and he has an international reputation for his bamboo knowledge. He has mature plantings of 200+ species and it is one of the most enjoyable bamboo field trips that I have made, particularly because we are purportedly in the same climate zone. He is on the warm side of z6 and I'm on the COLD side, but still it is encouraging to see how large bamboo gets in z6.

On the downside, he charges for 'tours'. I don't recall how much, it may be like $40. If you spend $1,000 on plants, the tour fee is waived, so be prepared to stuff your car with huge divisions and tie the family to the roof as they can take the wind better than the bamboo eh?

"I was starting to get the impression it grows all over in the South. All the talk of rhizome barrier and bamboo gone wild made me think it must be everywhere."

LOL - I grew up near Houston and I don't remember seeing much wild bamboo around. Our 2-acre yard had two large and VERY dense circular clumps that could have been planted up to 20 years before, and there was also a large thick forest that may have been wild Arundinaria - BUT - aside from my own yard, I never really saw any wild bamboo... Apparantly dropping thousands of acorns or pinecones every year is a more effective reproductive strategy than just having ambitious roots! ;)

I sure wish I had some diggings from that yard now!