Geez, now your frightening me - I will have to check my oldhamii in the morning. Mine does not usually start until January either, then check it every week for me to break off new shoots as I try to keep it away from getting too close to the back fence. While it may be a clumper mine certainly wants to spread.

Its not uncommon for bamboo to shoot at this time depending on the species.Oldhamii is a very cold tolerant plant and as we have had a mild winter with reasonable rainfall the plant will be backing itself for active growth.Do not be surprised however if the growth on some of the new shoots is very slow and may even stall altogether until spring.I noticed a new shoot on my B chungii yesterday i was most pleased!
Glad to hear your bamboo is well Misty.

Thanks Richard for that info I did not know that Bamboo would do that at this time of the year, even at my age I learn something new every day. I will keep a close look out at those shoots and see how they are progressing.

And of course I had to look up your B chungii it seems interesting sounds like you have quite a few different ones there. My black bamboo in the pots are starting to get tiny new leaves on them too isnt that great.
Cheers..MM

Misty,
Your black one should start shooting in the next couple of months, remember runners like to be well watered in winter.
Cheers.

Hi Richard one of the black bamboo's has already started shooting
And its about 40cms high already. Cheers...MM.

My native Bamboos are still producing new shoots in the middle of winter!
Kris

Hi Kris What is the name of the Native Bamboos I have never seen any around
Are they on sale anywhere, would love to know Cheers..MM.

Hard to get hold of:

Bambusa forbesii-from the Bloomfield River north-but mainly Iron Range etc.
Schizostachyum sp "Murray Island"- from an island in the northeastern Torres Strait.
Bambusa moreheadiana- climbing one from the Wet Tropics
Bambusa arnhemica- NT.

All grow well in my garden near Murwillumbah- B. arnhemica goes a little yellow on the plants down the slope which is a little colder. I have massive changes in success rates depending on the distance planted from the cold air down the slope and the amount of exposure to full sun and cold wind. B. forbesii grows well and has massive leaves- All are clumpers.
S. sp Murray Island forms tight compact clumps and is most attractive- they do amazingly well considering their equatorial habitat on an island!!!! I noticed that our dry wet season this year (only 300mm over the Jan-March period) made them look thirsty-but the cold doesnt worry them -we get down to 3 degrees everywinter-except this winter in which 3.8 has been the coldest-which is up on the norm.
From Kris

http://www.bambooworld.com.au/pages/contents.htm
maybe able to help.

I will have sufficient propagation material of both species soon.

I have only had experience with Murray island and B.arnhemica.I personally do not rate them as ornamentals,B.arnhemica can be very slow compared with other species and can look very grotty,Murray Island can looks reasonable as Wooroonooran points out.I guess they are nice addition for the native lover,but there are many more attractive bamboos available and the birds dont seem to care if they are native or not.I believe the two aforementioned types are available from Bamboo Down Under(my fave nursery!)www.bamboodownunder.com.au
What a great thread this is,i love chatting with fellow Aussie bambuseros!

Thanks Kris, I had a look at both those websites and that Murray Island one looks good, and Richard I have been past that one, I would have gone in only we were not out looking for Bamboo we were looking for our way home, hubby took us for a drive to Mt Tamborine and yep we got lost and ended up nearly at the Gold Coast, but if we ever get lost that way again I will pop in and have a good look.

My neighbour across the road has this very fine bamboo that only grows to about one metre well so far, as she has had it for two years its very bushy, maybe it is a bamboo looking grass and I keep dropping hints saying you can divide them in Spring but it is not working so I will try and get a pic and maybe you can ID it for me so I can go looking for some: Cheers...MM

Richard I think you have something wrong with you! (no offence)
sp Murrray Island is just as ornamental as any Bamboo- arnhemicus isnt though its all over the place.
From kris

Wooroonooran,no offence taken.I made that comment re Murray Island on my personal preferences for smaller leaved bamboos(in general).I also prefer more upright bamboos.I have seen many different clumps of Murray island in different parts of QLD and they definately look better the further North you go.I personally am not a huge fan of any of the Schizostachyum sp. unless they are in a true tropical area as i feel they usually look under duress.
As far as being as any ornamental as any other bamboo,then i guess beauty is in the eye of the beholder,but i would invite you to check out Bambusa eutuldoides viridi-vittata and then compare its ornamental qualities to Murray Island.
Thanks for the feedback,all the best.