What species are they? We'll have a better idea of how they'll do if we know what they are. As for traveling with 'boo, If you have a minivan or other large vehicle, they will be fine lying on their sides. Place the whole pot into a plastic trash bag and wrap/tie twine around the lower culms and plastic so soil won't spill out. If you stop overnight in areas with sub-freezing weather, you may want to bring tropical species indoors (you'll get strange looks at the motel, but so what). Hardy species can stay in the vehicle. Anything that does okay indoors in San Francisco should be just as happy in Philadelphia as long as you have a room that is as bright as the one they came from. Try to put them in a place that gets the same or similar light exposure, and keep the room at the same temperatures too. For outdoors, again, if you're talking about keeping 'boo outside all year, we need to know what types you have so we can tell if it's winter hardy. I believe Philadelphia is in zone 6.

You don't need to pay someone to do this. Bamboo is a grass and just needs water and maybe a little fertilizer in the spring. There's nothing to prune because bamboo culms do not continue to increase in size each year...each culm reaches its full size and number of branches in 1-2 months when they come out of the ground. If you want to cut off branches with a pruning shears or cut out entire old culms, you can do it at any time of the year without hurting the bamboo in the least. The only thing you need to be concerned about is that Black bamboo, like most bamboo species in the U.S., is a running bamboo and you will need to chop down into the ground each fall to sever any runners that are getting further away than you want. If that's too much trouble for you, pay someone to put in a material called "bamboo barrier," which will involve digging down about 2-1/2'-3' and installing a thick, hard plastic material as a perimeter that will prevent roots from growing beyond the area you want.

Thanks for the helpful info, Brian! I think the Bambusa multiplex 'Alphonse Karr' type looks particularly beautiful for container planting. What a beauty! Maybe I will plant that in larger containers, with a smaller container of Pleioblastus viridistriatus in front of the house. I can move these into my sunroom for the winter months without a problem, as long as the taller species can fit through the door :) The only thing I'm worried about with the running bamboos is the small size of my rear yard. It's only about 20 x 15' and there are two backyards on either side separated only by a chain link fence. While the bamboo would be wonderful for privacy from these yards, I worry that it will spread under the fence, even with a rhizome barrier. I'm worried less about privacy since I will be covering the fence with bamboo cane fencing, and really just looking for something beautiful. Do you think Fargesia sp. 'Rufa' Green Panda would be a good choice? I would probably plant 5-10 one gallon plants in July to start with. Thanks again for your advice. This is really helpful.

You're welcome. As you mentioned, clumpers usually don't like wet feet, but with many, especially the Bambusas, I've noticed that the bottom half in water, in a pot for long periods never seems to hurt the plant. The reason I do this, is to keep the plant watered enough while I am away. During the hot Summer months, if I water once a day, the plant will dry out before I get back to water it again and it will die, but keeping it submerged in water, it does just fine. Just don't keep the water level too high or the plant will start to turn yellow. Good Luck Kt