ABS Spring Plant auction

[bambooweb]

There has been talk of the ABS having a spring Bamboo Auction.
What dates would you want an auction.
I am thinking of the last two weeks in May.

Bill

[svendrix]

Sounds good to me Bill, since I was one of the cold weather state guy that made it hard to ship to in November... =D

The only thing I see in that time period is dealing with the Memorial Day holiday being part of it. I know a lot of people like to ship plants on Monday's so you can try to avoid a plant sitting wityhout light and water, or in a cold truck or post office or warehouse over the weekend.

Is this going to be a online only auction, where the online part happens for the entire last 2 weeks of May? If so, then what I mention above probably won't really matter.

---Sven

[bambooweb]

It will be completely on-line which should make thing go a lot smoother without a break at the end.

Bill

[svendrix]

Ah, comeon, I really liked waiting a week or two to find out if my bids made it, or were beaten out by someone during the live auction. OK, I can't even say that with a straight face and you can't see me!!!

----Sven

[needmore]

Now is a great time to make divisions for the spring auction, even winter damaged stuff will look decent by then - anyone have any wish lists in terms of what you'd like to see in the auction? Perhaps if folks knew what was desired in advance, they could propagate something now for the auction. I can propagate numerous species that I usually just cull, but if I knew what was a desired auction species I may be able to dig a piece or make a rhizome cutting. (sorry, no Parvifolia from here yet)

[svendrix]

One other thing that I'd like to request is if this is going to be an Internet based auction, having pictures of the plants and shipping costs as "mandatory" information being required for each plant in the auction. That helps folks who are tight on money know what the final costs are going to be, as well as what the plant looks like. You don't want to bid up a plant to a decent price only to find out that the shipping would be twice as much! Or to bid on a "7 gal plant" without a picture, only to find out it is one small culm overplanted containerwise.

I got lucky with my winnings in last years ABS auction both being good standing members in this community (hi fredgpops and mantis!), and they worked with me wonderfully, so I didn't have these problems!

That being said, there were a lot of other auctions I would have liked to participate in, but didn't because I didn't feel there was enough information on that particular plant to make an educated bid.

Just 2 cents (which is of course worth less and less every day recently... heh)
---Sven

[rfgpitt]

....anyone have any wish lists in terms of what you'd like to see in the auction?

Brad,
I would probably bid on just about any fargesia....

What about unloading the leftover t-shirts from the annual meeting or having a standard ABS logo shirt made available? When I was in contact w/ S. Lucas about my past auction win, I decided to purchase one of the annual meeting shirts and I'm glad I did.

[needmore]

I've been meaning to order a couple of those shirts as well, I believe that the NE Chapter has them so it is up to them if they want to move them out at a discount.

Rick, just curious why you are interested in the Fargesias? One that has hung on - not done much, but stayed green through winter and summer - is F. denudata. It surprised me by pushing a shoot several inches out from the tiny clump last fall. Top damage was serious the first winter, but this past winter it looks fine. I would place it 3rd after F. rufa and F. nitida in terms of performance here, probably better than F. murielae. I've pretty much lost interest in them other than Rufa which is a very fine plant.

I pulled the F. robusta 'Wolong' and F. scabrida from the greenhouse this week and will continue to container grown them until they are at least 1 foot tall

[foxd]

My F. rufa is looking good too.

I was out in the yard yesterday looking for new shoots and noticed the F. nitida leaves were starting to uncurl and look green after looking dead most of the winter.

Brad: I want to look at your F. denudata next time I'm at your place. I might be tempted to add another Fargesia to my collection.

[needmore]

My F. rufa is looking good too.

I was out in the yard yesterday looking for new shoots and noticed the F. nitida leaves were starting to uncurl and look green after looking dead most of the winter.

Brad: I want to look at your F. denudata next time I'm at your place. I might be tempted to add another Fargesia to my collection.

It's not much to look at but it has some green leaves and is more than 1 foot tall.

BTW - Dug & potted about 30 plants from 6 different species today and the buds on Harbin Inversa & Decora already have color and are right at the soil line, so your Yellow Groove may be cranking up Dan. I hope it stays a bit cool and slows them down.

[foxd]

When I was out looking about yesterday, I didn't see any signs of shoots. Even the P. viridistiatus and S. veitchii haven't shown any signs yet. Maybe in the next few days.

[rfgpitt]

Brad,
At my new place I'm limited to container/barrel planting and clumpers close to the house. Trying to get several plantings of Fargesias, possibly several of one species to try to find a few that will do well in our zone (colder winters / high heat summers). Thanks for the info on denudata.

I have a hillside and places below the hill that I will eventually start letting a few run, but will be limited until the developer fills in the temporary retaining pond on my property and I see what I have to work with - hopefully I'll have a clue as to what I'm doing later this year.

This summer I'm going to focus on the beds around the house & a deck that will be going up in a few weeks. Also might do a raised bed at the edge of the hill in the back yard. That probably will be all I get to this year. Looks like most of my Phyllos will be container grown for a while (stinks because I want something sizable). I also continue to struggle after herniating a disc in my lower back - not what one needs when dealing with rhizome pruning and/or just general gardening.

FYI:
I was really impressed with the ABS t-shirt. Not only are they bamboo fiber, but they look great. A must for anyone including us bums that didn't make the meeting in PA. They were available in black and white - not sure what sizes/colors are still available.

Double FYI:
I'm about 6'3" / 275ish and my washboard abs currently are well insulated if you know what I mean. I ordered a XL and it was too tight. I was afraid the XXL might be too big but it wasn't. Before sending it back, I compared the XL to a plain XL bamboo fiber shirt I already had - it was around two inches shorter - the XXL was about the same length as my old ones. For tall folks the XL might be a belly shirt.

[needmore]

Rick, container growing your plants for a couple of seasons may be the best way to have large ones. That extra rhizome mass before planting out helps significantly in terms of hardiness and spring recovery if winter damaged so it may be a blessing for you.

I'd go with masses of the Rufa for your situation, it is tried & true in climates like ours and will look the best for sure. I have 2 and I hate to divide them, I may get more to spread around.

[bambooweb]

There is only a week and a half before the auction starts. I am going to try and get everything on a preview page this weekend so if you have anything to donate it would be nice if you can get me the information soon so I post it.

Currently it looks like we will have more books, magazines and other items than plants but I expect to get a lot of donations the day after the auction starts.

Thanks,
Bill

[rfgpitt]

Brad / Bill / Dan,

FYI:
I did a quick look in the obvious places on bamboo.org and did not see a mention of the auction (should be on homepage?). I know bambooweb.info mems have been great contributors, but mantis is running out of room!