Carolina Bamboo Garden launches museum and bamboo organ

A rondalla of children in brightly colored costumes playing folk dance tunes on traditional instruments. Coffee and suman sa ibos being served to early guests. The verdant foliage and gigantic bamboo trees serenely swaying in the wind and making their own music.

The sun up in the sky and shining through the clouds to cast a gentle light on the Antipolo hills. Such was the serene pastoral setting that greeted attendees last Saturday, October 28, to the joint launch of the Carolina Bamboo Garden Museum and Bamboo Organ.

By 10 a.m., the guest of honor, Sen. Cynthia Villar, had arrived, as well as other guests that included Councilor Edward O’Hara of the Second District of Antipolo City, representing Antipolo Mayor Casimiro “Jun” Ynares III, Atty. Ed Tarriela and his wife Flor Gozon-Tarriela of the neighboring Flor’s Garden, and corporate titan Menardo “Nards” Jimenez Sr.   

Sen. Villar led the ribbon-cutting ceremony that inaugurated the Museum, alongside Carolina Bamboo Garden Founder Carolina Gozon-Jimenez, her husband Nards Jimenez, and Antipolo City Councilor Edward O’Hara.  After the ribbon-cutting, butterflies hatched in the Butterfly Garden were given to guests to release to the sky in a stirring ceremonial gesture. 

The Carolina Bamboo Garden is a passion project of entrepreneur, educator, and bamboo advocate Carolina “Kay” Jimenez, who has been called “Bamboo Queen” for her efforts in promoting the appreciation of bamboo. The Garden brings together more than 40 species of the bamboo plant in one “bambusetum”, or bamboo garden. It has become one of the foremost centers for the research and development of bamboo, not just in the country, but in Southeast Asia. 

A Bahay Kubo designed by Architect Angel Lazaro Jr. is an elegant showcase of bamboo as building material for shelter. The Bamboo Garden Museum is the newest building in the five-hectare area, described by Tita Kay in her welcome remarks as a “classroom… everywhere you go, you can learn something”. In her welcome speech, Tita Kay also spoke about the other offerings of the Garden – which include the Bamboo Treatment Plant for the treatment of bamboo poles used in the Garden, the Butterfly Garden, and