The 17th Annual Texas Bamboo Festival was held at Zilker Botanical Garden, Austin, Texas on Saturday and Sunday, August 22-23, 2009.   Hours 10 :am - 6 pm on Saturday and 10 am -5 pm on Sunday.  Admission: free.  City of Austin Parking $3. "Nuture Nature by Caring for Bamboo" There were bamboo plants, crafts, spun bamboo clothing, musical instruments, bamboo beads, buttons, jewelry and bamboo poles for sale, a live bamboo plant and object auction at 3 pm on Saturday and many bamboo experts on hand to share their bamboo knowledge.  The Annual Meeting of the Texas Bamboo Society was held at 5 pm on Saturday.  Additional details are posted at: http://www.bamboocentral.net/bamboofestival17.html  17th Annual Texas Bamboo Festival Schedule Saturday, August 22, 2009 - Festival Opens 10:00 am - Bamboo Sale Begins Bamboo Presentations: 10:15 am "Bamboo Applications & Species Selection: Getting It Right!" Presentation by Jinji Willingham, Bamboo Logic - For Landscape Architects & Designers, Interior Designers, Realtors, Urban Planners, Commercial Developers As Well As Residential and Commercial Property Owners - Discussion covering the growth habits of clumping bamboos and species selection for commercial and residential properties, urban vs. rural properties, above-ground containers, and living fences. Jinji will also address how to access the right circumstances for establishing a leptomorphic (running) bamboo. 11:30 am "Light Requirements of Bamboo" - Presentation by Harry Simmons - Harry studied Tropical Horticulture at Kasetsart University in Bangkok, Thailand. His thesis focused on evaluating horticultural quality and light requirements of 7 genera and 20 species of bamboo.  1:00 pm "Bamboo Landscape Design and Management" - Presentation by Ian Connor, Landscape Designer Specializing in Ornamental and Rare Forms of Bamboo - Ian is from Portland, Oregon and has served as past President of the American Bamboo Society.  He will share his extensive experience working with many different species of bamboo http://www.connorbamboo.com/catalog.htm      3:00 pm Live Auction - Bamboo Plants and Bamboo Objects Partial auction list: 3 gallon Bambusa Lako "Timor Black Bamboo" 7 gallon Bambusa wamin "dwarf Buddah's Belly"                  7 gallon Dendrocalamus Giant Parker  Book: Bamboos of the World -1990 Indian edition Auction Coordinator Grady Magnum grady.mangum@gmail.com  5:00 pm Annual Meeting of the Texas Bamboo Society  6:15 pm Dinner catered by the Bamboo Garden Restaurant          Reservations required $16 per person          Bamboo Presentation by Ian Connor    Sunday, August 23, 2009 - Festival Opens 10:00 am - Bamboo Sale Begins  11:30 am "Bamboo in the Landscape" Presentation by Judith Bussey   Judith is President of the Newton Garden Club and has presented bamboo programs around the state and at the state convention of the Texas Garden Clubs.  She is an avid gardener and flower show judge and is surrounded by numerous species of bamboo in a wooded area of East Texas. 1:00 pm  "Bamboo Landscape Design and Management" - Presentation by Ian Connor, Landscape Designer Specializing in Ornamental and Rare Forms of Bamboo - Ian is from Portland, Oregon and has served as a past President of the American Bamboo Society and has extensive experience working with many different species of bamboo  http://www.connorbamboo.com/catalog.htm 2:30 pm "Bamboo 101" Presentation by Jinji Willingham Bamboo Logic  Jinji is a bamboo horticultural consultant & educator, landscape designer, and garden coach and serves as Bamboo Curator and Community-Builder at Casa de Luz, Center for Integral Studies, where she offers seminars and tours of the Bamboo Garden. 3:30 pm Bamboo Hoop Workshop and Demonstration - by Carole Meckes, http://www.bamboobranch.com  Carole Meckes is a bamboo crafts woman and co-founder of the Bambooo Arts and Craft Network, http://www.bamboocraft.net 5:00 pm  Festival Closes Bamboo Plant Vendors: Bamboo Bend  Bamboo Source - Varner Creek Nursery  Caldwell Nursery  Simmons Family Farms  bambootexas.com   Bamboo Craft Vendors: Bamboo Branch  Bamboo Logic  Bamboo's Planet Harjo Flutes RM-Collectibles.com - Crafts from Mt. Fuji, Japan Spirit Mama - Spun Bamboo Clothing - 50% off Waterstones  Special Bamboo Festival Sponsors: Golf Cart Sponsor: Caldwell Nursery- Rosenberg, Texas David Jenkins - Bamboo Bronze Sponsorship Texas Bamboo Society Chapter of the American Bamboo Society Monthly Meetings The Texas Bamboo Society meets on the 3rd Saturday of each month in the Taniguchi Japanese Garden, Zilker Botanical Garden, Austin, TX from 10 am - 1 pm and helps to take care of the various species of bamboo that are growing there. The Annual Texas Bamboo Festival is the annual fund raiser for the Texas Bamboo Society Chapter of the American Bamboo Society, a 501 (c)3 non-profit organization. Proceeds are used to provide research, information, education, assistance to public bamboo gardens, support for bamboo artists, and to bring new varieties to the multi-state region represented by the Texas Bamboo Society.  Contact person: Carole Meckes, Festival Coordinator  phone 512-929-9565 or email  bamboo@bamboocentral.net bamboo festival information:   www.bamboocentral.net Official Texas Bamboo Society site: www.texasbamboosociety.org   ###