Dear thistle5,
You can't plant bamboo in glazed pots. Or terra cotta or any pot if it is at all fragile. Bamboo will break through the pot with no problem. They are strong.
Plastic is great for bamboo. Whiskey barrels are OK for about 3 years.
Your bamboo will live outside in a pot and NOT planted in the ground (which is a whole different sinerio) if you buy a bamboo which will live in the climate zone 2 zones LOWER than the zone you presently live in.
So, you are in zone 7, which means you must buy and plant the bamboo in a pot for outside that can live in at least zone 5. You subtract 2 climate zones for pots.
This limits your choices of bamboo that can withstand real cold weather. P. Meyerii is zone 6.
If you plant it in the ground, then you use your climate zone and mulch real good.
Good Luck with your new bamboo.

If your choices are henon, meyerii, and "aureum" (by which I presume you mean Ph. aureosulcata, otherwise known as Yellow grove), then the most cold hardy is the Yellow groove. Potted bamboo are more susceptible to cold than those in the ground, but I usually only discount the hardiness by about 10F, not 2 zones. Yellow groove in the ground is supposed to be hardy to -10F, so I think it will be fine in your Zone, although you may get some leaf damage in the coldest part of winter.

I've never had a bamboo crack a pot, unless it had a flaw in it, although I'm sure it's possible (pots subjected to freeze-thaw cycles can weaken over time regardless of what's in them). The main problem with pots is that you have to repot and divide every two years or so, and no bamboo is going to be as healthy in a pot over the long term as it would be in the ground.

Thanks, guys, yes, what I called aureum is actually yellow groove. These bamboo are in 5 gal. black nursery pots outside & they all seem quite healthy.
I guess the reason I'd initially like to try the bamboo in pots is the horror stories I've heard about planting running bamboo that takes over your yard (& your neighbors). I realize that the bamboo in pots will not be as healthy as it would planted in the ground, but I'm going to start slowly & cautiously.
This is no ordinary glazed pot, the sides are about 1" thick, since it's so large, almost anything I plant in it looks wimpy. Last year, I had colocasia in them, but they didn't get large until the end of summer-it also had perilla, coleus, lysimachia, mint. I'm prepared to divide & split the bamboo, if it will keep it looking good...

I have not had meyerii in containers but have had golden and black bamboo in half whiskey barrels undivided for about 6 years, I'd guess. They look great and have culms about 15 or 20 feet tall. I have had Japanes arrow bamboo in rubbermaid containers for about 2 years i think, and it is still holding together fine. I had one of those (Japanese Arrow) in a half whiskey barrel but knew it needed dividing when it dried out almost immediately, and also when I watered it, water would come out the drainage holes immediately--I think there were all roots and no soil left in it, so I divided it, repotting half in the barrel and half in the rubbermaid bin.

I have heard that rubbermaid bins are much stronger than the brand sterilite.

I also have read that young bamboo in pots need to be in sheltered areas for their first winter or 2.

Those Asian pots sound beautiful! Are they shaped so you can pull the rootball out when needed, as opposed to having the sides curve inward at the top? That might make a big difference in your ability to get the plants out eventually. Also, I'm thinking of Sasa Palmata, which might be just the right size for a container like that and would never get very tall. they have nice large leaves and like a fair amount of shade, at least in hot summers in S. Oregon. Now that I think of it, the arrow bamboo is only about 6 or 8' tall even after years in its barrel. I almost never fertilize my plants, however, so that may be why they are not growing at too fast a rate.

thistle-
You, like most folks, have heard too many stories about bamboo's aggressiveness. I've got over 60 runners planted in my yard and not a one has been a problem. It's a problem when you plant it and then let it do its thing for a number of years, but, if you rhizome prune annually, it will be hardier, healthier, and happier. It's true that I have some stuff in pots...but only until I can find the right place to plant them. You might want to read the section on control of bamboo in the link I've provided and see if you're feeling brave! Good luck.

Here is a link that might be useful: Control