Bambusa vulgaris 'Wamin', Bambusa bambos GIANT THORNY, Bambusa vulgaris 'Vittata' PAINTED BAMBOO, and Bambusa lako TIMOR BLACK, are all clumpers and are all only cold tolerant to about 28F to 30F.

Dendrocalamus giganteus and Bambusa tuldoides Ventricosa are also clumpers and are a bit more cold hardy, approximately 25F and 20F respectively.

I don't know about the Phyllostachys Heteroclada (water bamboo) and have never heard of the Bambusa Chimeii (little yellow belly).

I live in zone 8b, and the only one that survives 'some' of the Winters, is the Bambusa tuldoides Ventricosa, which is very quick to reach large size. The D. giganteus freezes to the ground every Winter, even with temps only down to 30F, and grows back each year into a big bush about 12 feet tall.

I believe that the ABS cold hardiness temperatures are for mature well establihed plants. Young plants and especially those in pots are much less cold tolerant from my experience.

Your best bet for a cold hardy very large clumper is Bambusa Textilis. Mine have never frozen back to the ground since I have planted them. They only get some minor leaf burn on cold windy/icy Winter nights, but have survived temps down into the low teens.

If you plant them outdoors, give them a good windbreak from northers. They all like full sun and plenty of water, especially in well drained soil.

Kt

The water bamboo, P. heteroclada, should work no problem, hardy to 0*F or possibly below.

I have a piggyback question: Would Bambusa multiplex topkill in zone 7b/8a once established?

Thuja-
I'm in Zone 8 (and probably more 8b than 8a), and I'll give you my experience. I have a B. multiplex "Alphonse Karr" that I've been growing for a couple of years. It has the same hardiness rating as B. multiplex. Last year we had a 3 day cold snap where it got to about 15 degrees at night. Now my plant is not in the ground, but in a 15 gallon pot. I usually have it inside for the winter, but it was in a wind-protected place and looked like it was doing ok during the winter outside, so I left it out. During the cold snap, almost all the foliage got zapped. In the spring it looked truly horrible: no foliage, and dead culms, or culms that lost most of their color (ended up sort of gray and tan). About April, I got a few leaves, but they were small and snow white. After about a month, it started to leaf out with pale green leaves (I could hear them saying: "Hey, guys, is it safe to come out?). And right now it has lots of regular color leaves and even put up some decent new culms. However, one near-death experience was enough for me. It's going inside this year. Admittedly, since mine was not in the ground, it could have been more vulnerable, but I'm still thinking you'd have topkill in 7b/8a.

My B. textilis is more cold hardy than any of my in-ground six kinds of B. multiplexes. The B. mult. are wind protected but the textilis is open to north winds yet it fares much better on those cold Winter nights. Wind does not bother it much either and needs no trimming of the lower part of the culms. It is a groom-free plant, whereas my multiplexes need trimming of lower limbs, and removing of some culms that lean outward.

Kt

Kentuck,

Does you B. textilis reach the max dimensions the species?

Thanks for camping out on my thread! ;-) buddys!! Could have atleast made a comment about topic before changing topics.
CJ

What topic? I thought someone was offering free popcorn. I WANT MY POPCORN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Textilis is around 40 feet in height as of last year. This years culms are still growing. Maximum diameter culms are 2 1/2 inches. Much white powder at certain times of the year giving it a very blue colour.

B. textilis 'Albostriata', 'Glabra', and 'Gracilis' are in their second season and getting large fast. All are beautiful and seem to be quite cold tolerant, but I will have to see if they are as tough as the original Textilis.

As I mentioned, in this zone, it is the largest clumper that will reach large size. I have 7 Dendrocalamus, 4 Guaduas, and 16 Bambusas that are all listed as reaching 40 feet or taller. The only one that comes close is B. oldhamii, which may surpass the textilis by years end, but we haven't gotten below 30F for the past two Winters, so it has really grown. The first cold Winter(down to 22F or so) will kill the oldhamii back.

Kt

Based on your list any of the Phyllostachys should be good, and I'm assuming the Lako you are referring to is actually the Bambusa species, not the Phyllostachys species known as Nigra. For the clumpers listed, your best bet would Bambusa Tuldoides Ventricosa.

I don't know your location but if you are residential you will need to either contain or rhizome prune all of the Phyllostachys types to keep them neighbor friendly.

Is your friend willing to do any swaps? I would be interested in swapping for a B. Lako if that is indeed what he has.

lkz... you missed the popcorn...Kentuck and kudzu ate it all after crashing my thread!! Thanks guys... j/k...well...maybe JERKS!!

Webgator... I'll try to get more details on the exact boo ...not sure if he swapps... I know he sells though!!

take care all
CJ

I think Kudzu and Kentuck answered both of our questions. Bambusa multiplex is always listed as the hardiest Bambusa species available, and if it suffers top-kill in zone 8b, then it (or any other Bambusa except maybe textilis) likely won't do any better in zone 7.

Anyway, thanks for the answers, and popcorn!

B. multiplex varieties and B. textilis are listed as equally cold hardy but as I mentioned above, my textilis is more cold hardy than my mutiplexes, maybe it is the climate here, I don't know. I really like the textilis and the size it reaches here. A good looking plant and carefree.

I also like the mutiplexes but they are not a large bamboo, but have more variety in the colour of their culms.

CJ, Noone 'crashed' your thread. I believe in my first post, I answered your questions to the best of my knowledge and experience. My second post was a related answer to Thuja's and Kudzu's discussion. We're here to learn and discuss and share our experiences with bamboo in our zones to help others in their zones.

I don't like popcorn...so accept it or sign up for some stress management classes. They can do wonders now-a-days with angry people who constantly accuse others of problems that don't really exist. :) If the last hurricane is what got you stirred up, then that is understandable. Hurricanes can get even the most calm person upset.

My first post should give you some good ideas on what to plant or not to plant. I hope it helped you out. Luckily, I don't get mad, or else I might tell you where to stick your bamboo!! ;)

Let me know if I can be of further help with your choice of boos for planting, all you have to do is ask.

Kt

Thanks Guys... The "j/k" I put up ,meams just kidding... I appreciate all the info, and cut and paste it into an existing doc I'm maintaining for all the usefull info you all have provided.

No need for anger management kudzu... got all that out of my system as a Paratrooper back in mid 80's. A few tours to the desert tends to bring out the "ugly" in anyone.

The Lord kept me safe ;-)

Thanks again all.
CJ

Soory... typo...Kentuck suggested the Anger Management...Not Kudzu... but he was probably thinking it too !!! lol... just kidding guys...its all good.

Thanks for the info
CJ

Try a one year tour in Nam for stress. After that, you will look at everything quite different. The same things won't get you mad that did before your tour.

Kt

Sorry for going with the second topic, but I have a Bambusa Multiplex "Golden Goddess" in the ground in Seattle. It seems to survive the winters just fine but after four years in the ground it is just 6 feet tall and doesn't seem to want to get any bigger or wider. I can only assume that it isn't too happy. Every spring/summer it leafs out a little more on the existing culms so it is quite full. I am actually considering digging it up and making it a houseplant!

I'll agree with that Kt... I left aug of 99 because I grew tired of being deployed 10 months out of the year and reaquainting(sp?) myself with my 2 children. Kind of heart renching to see your son and daughter hold there arms up to everyone in Cammo and yell "Daddy" cause thats all they can associate with. But that which does not kill us...makes us stronger!! :-D
God bless all that served and all that supported us while serving.
CJ

Cj, glad to hear you were just kidding around. I kinda figured you were but wasn't 100% sure.

Kaimiike, I do have 'Golden Goddess' in a pot for its 2nd year now, and it does fine. I already chopped it in half and gave a division to my uncle in the Dallas area, zone 7B, hence my tangent question. I am now thinking I'd like to also get him a B. textilis since that does sound better from Kentuck's description.

Anyway, as for the limited size of your 'Golden Goddess', I wonder if it could be Chinese Goddess instead? Its leaves are very small, only 2 cm long or so. 'Golden Goddess' leaves are small too but 4 times longer at about 8cm.

I was thinking the same thing as Thuja, you may have Chinese Goddess instead of Golden Goddess. Here, my Golden Goddess grows to 15 feet, or taller, which is taller than listed by the ABS. I have mine in almost complete shade, but the ABS states that it likes full sun...go figure.

Kt