I know this is risky, but too cheap to ignore. I have recently bought several types of bamboo seeds on embay, including:

PHYLLOSTACHYS pubescens MOSO BAMBOO (says runner)

Timor Black (I already have this one in my yard)

Chimonobambusa yunnanensis - hardy bamboo

Himalayacalamus falconeri - candy cane bamboo

Dendrocalamus giganteus

Dendrocalamus strictus

I've been doing this because it's cheap fun, but I'm curious what others think. Are they what they say they are? I read in another post here that Moso might be a clumper, is this true?

What I'm looking for in the end is a better cold hardy bamboo to share with my sister and mother in GA (Zone 8) I think the Candy Cane and Hardy bamboo's will work there, at least according to the advertisements on ebay. I'd like to plant Moso, but will have to find a suitable place for the forest, and convince my dad to allow it on the family farm.

I really have no need for the giganteus or strictus, but they look so cool, and for $5, I'll grow them in a pot for a few years, or give them away.

Sorry for the rambling, but two final questions.... (1)What is the largest clumping bamboo that will grow in zone 8, and (2) any large clumping black's that will grow in zone 8.

thanks,

Brian