Outdoor Rooms, is a special interest publication for Better Homes and Gardens, and their theme for this summer is "Take a Vacation in Your Own Backyard." In their summer issue they provided a "Passport to Style" for creating themed backyards that are serene, have that Polynesian pop, and of course all things tropical and tiki-fied. 

Here's what the editor Jane Austin McKeon had to say:
"My favorite time of year to entertain is summer.  A barefoot and blue jeans sort of girl, I would much rather wave the neighbors over for a spur-of-the-moment glass of wine on the front porch or serve a picnic-style supper for my family on the deck than put a lot of planning and primping into a fancy dining room affair.  Backyards cater to impromptu entertaining."

Every industry show, we always do drawings for Tiki statues, gift certificates or our signature Tiki bar.  This past Spring Home and Garden show in San Diego, Chuck and Sheri Newton were the lucky winners of our Bamboo Tiki Bar!

Here's what they had to say.

Q: Why did you attend the Home and Garden Show?
A: We had just closed on our new home and we wanted to get some new ideas about what we could do as far as decorating the place.  This was the first Home and Garden show we had ever attended.

As a member of the California Landscape Contractor's Association, Bamboo and Tikis will be attending the CLCA Industry Show.

All over the news and media recently is the disaster that has struck Haiti just around the Port-Au-Prince area.  An earthquake measuring 7.0 on the richter scale has left what is feared to be thousands dead and many more homeless and in devastation.  Homes, buildings, roadways and more have been destroyed and the country is in a severe state of emergency. 

One of the biggest trends for the past decade has been "going green." One renewable resource which has been at the cutting edge of developing an infinite array of green products is Bamboo.  Bamboo's exponential growth rate, makes it an ideal and eco-friendly replacement for traditional woods.

Bamboo grows at an incredibly fast rate, boosting an average of 60 cm in a single day. What’s even more impressive is that the uses of this natural plant grow just as fast. Bamboo products are being used in everything from skateboards to football helmets to bicycles. There’s even a wide line of bamboo furniture available. There’s almost nothing this resilient plant can’t do.

As the fastest growing plant in the world, bamboo grows by leaps and bounds, earning a new 60 centimeters every single day. It’s a versatile plant that’s as solid as a tree and as strong as steel, used for building homes, fences, and more. Bamboo is being implemented in countless new products in innovative ways, from bike frames to computer keyboards, stretching the imagination when it comes to the capabilities of this naturally grown plant.

Bamboo is truly an amazing plant, growing up to 24 inches or 60 centimeters in a single day. Indeed, it’s the most versatile and sustainable crop that can be grown. Plus, it can be harvested easily in many indigenous parts of the world, providing an economic resource as well as a sturdy building material for everything from houses to fences to home-style mats that add décor and comfort to any living space.