I don't have Bambusa textilis, but I grow its cousin B. tuldoides with great success and pleasure. I planted a small divison in July 04 and it immediately put several culms of 5 or 6 ft before November. A few culms up to 15 - 18 feet last year under 1 inch, and this season 4 or 5, so far, about 1.25+ inches, may reach 30 ft. Foliage thins a bit in cold months vs mid summer, but never completely defoliated.

I expect textilis would be similar, with a few degrees better hardiness.

in julys issue of wildlife in north carolina, there is a very good article on raising river cane.. (arundinaria gigantea) known as giant cane and/or switch cane.. it tells the the history, and use of the cane for weaving baskets, as the cherokee indians use it.
it also lists a david cozzo that works through western carolina university to restore the cane to a bigger area then what it is now. . not sure if the article is online somewhere or not, but it would be good to do a search and read it , if it is..

thanks for the replies, lelanddunne i was refering to bamboo textilis but i do have some native bamboo that i dug up from down the road. the same piece i planted over a year ago has survived but not spread at all.

anyway i think i really like the bamboo textilis from the descriptions i have read. can someone recommend a good source mail order or anyone have some for trade, postage or for sale/

bambooplantation.com

Textilis does very well here, and is one of my favorite clumpers since it does well in cold Winters, tolerates high winds, grows in a very tight clump with no lower branches, and grows tall, about 40 feet here. It gets seasonal blue culms making it a nice looking plant.

I also have B. textilis albostriata, glabra, and gracilis. They are all a bit smaller, but seem to be equally cold tolerant.

All seem to be cold hardier than other Bambusas including the multiplexes, and if you are looking for size, then this is the largest cold hardy clumper that will survive here in my zone.

Tradewinds Bamboo Nursery

Good Luck

Kt

I'm growing it here in upstate SC. Its leaf hardy to around 20F and top kills below 15F.

Just bought some -- I like the description and pics. But it just arrived yesterday, so I can't give you any firsthand impressions.

I highly recommend Jim at BambooPlantation. Good, fast service; he'll answer questions; plants are great. www.bambooplantation.com

Dave

I did order some weavers from bamboo plantation thanks for all the suggestions and help.