Timber Press Pocket Guide to Bamboos

Ted Jordan Meredith

Timber Press, 2009 - Gardening - 208 pages

There are around 1400 species of bamboo spread throughout the world's temperate, tropical, and subtropical regions. They grow from sea level to high mountainous regions and can be successfully grown in a range of climates, from coastal California to Minnesota, New England, the British Isles, and continental Europe. Versatile bamboos are both ornamental -- they have striking foliage and come in variety of colors and patterns -- and practical for providing screening and privacy and controlling erosion. They also play an important role in modern society: As a rapidly renewable resource, bamboos are an environmentally conscious solution for homes, gardens, construction, and manufacturing.

The Timber Press Pocket Guide to Bamboos covers 35 genera of bamboos in cultivation and describes more than 300 species and cultivars. Each entry includes the plant's maximum height, maximum culm diameter, light requirements, and minimum temperature tolerated. Includes 300 color photographs for easy identification. Packed with all the authority of an encyclopedia in a pocket-size format, the Timber Press Pocket Guide to Bamboos is a perfect reference for taking to the nursery or garden center.

About the author

Ted Jordan Meredith has written books on viticulture, enology, wine appreciation, garlic, and bamboo. His Bamboo for Gardens (Timber Press 2001) was awarded the Council on Botanical and Horticultural Libraries Literature Award and The New York Times Editor's Choice for Best Books for Gardening, and his The Complete Book of Garlic: A Guide for Gardeners, Growers, and Serious Cooks (Timber Press 2008) has become the standard reference for garlic enthusiasts. When a housing development suddenly took away his privacy, Ted became interested in bamboo as a beautiful, rapidly growing, evergreen screen. He quickly became captivated by bamboo in all of its aspects and began to grow, research, and write about bamboo. A native of Montana, Ted recalls the daring use of fresh garlic in the family kitchen. In later years, as his interest in cooking grew, Ted enthusiastically incorporated garlic into much of his cuisine but initially regarded garlic as a supermarket commodity with little distinction. It was at a farmer's market that he purchased a few heads of a Rocambole garlic, 'Spanish Roja'. Ted realized then that all garlic was not the same, and he never looked back, voraciously exploring a new-found world of hundreds of cultivars in nearly a dozen different horticultural groups. Ted and his wife garden and grow bamboo at their home in Washington state. In addition to writing and photography, Ted enjoys cooking, gardening, hiking, and music.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Timber Press Pocket Guide to Bamboos; Pocket Guide Series; Timber Press pocket guides
• Author: Ted Jordan Meredith
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Timber Press, 2009
• ISBN: 0881929360, 9780881929362
• Length: 208 pages
• Subjects: Gardening / Ornamental Plants