You're not likely to avoid winter damage. Ph. nuda is one of the hardiest bamboos and has a hardiness rating of -20F (it will sustain damage at warmer than that temp, though). You would undoubtedly get significant damage in winter and possibly lose culms in your zone.

Here is a link that might be useful: Ph. nuda at -12F

Thanks kudzu!
That P. nuda in your link looks sad, but it's still an ok visual barrier. I had been under the impression that the leaves go blonde and then fall off.... is it reasonable to expect some leaves to stay on all winter?

I had green leaves through the end of January. The wind and temps killed the leaves but everything is leafing out now. The brown leaves hung around until just a couple of weeks ago. Last year only the edges got burnt. I have had bissetii for several years and at my old house the mini grove is very thick and puts up 12' culms.

cuttlefish-
I didn't mean to discourage you...just wanted to temper your expectations. I live in Zone 8, and even though it's pretty mild here, I lost several bamboo that made it through previous winters. Your results will vary by year depending on how cold it gets and how long the lows are during any one period. You're in kind of a marginal situation where the culms may not become totally denuded, and some culms may not even die. There are people on this forum who grow bamboo in Zone 4/5...but they typically see everything above ground decimated and then it usually makes a comeback in the spring. However, if global warming keeps progressing, you may get better results in the future!

Yaaaay! Global warming! ; ) And here I am designing a solar house... nuts to that! *joke!*
Seriously, I'm glad to know there is hope for my bamboo dreams. And P. bissetii has been the front runner because of it's prolific culm production. I would be thrilled with 12' of height for my barrier because it's mostly along the South side that I need it, but I don't want anything that will get too tall and block my sun. That's why conifers were out to begin with.
Looks like I'm goin' boo shoppin'.
Thanks guys!

Cuttlefish-
HereÂs my story in 4b/5a for your consideration- I'm in zone 5a only few miles from 4b. I put a couple of Fargesia murieliae in Spring 2006. Max overwinter low was -17F in Dec 06 & Jan 07 - plenty more days w/ subzero lows. F. m. has come thru w/ flying colors. I put some cedar mulch around the base of the clump and some pine needles on that maybe total six inches deep above ground level. No other protection- exposed site. I anticipated I'd have to cut them back to the ground this spring (culms stayed green down around the mulch area all winter) but, to my surprise, even the tips of highest culms from last season are unfurling green leaves all over. They kept all their winterkill/dead tan leaves all winter
I planted to screen out neighbors too. F. m. is a clumper so it won't go all over and height/spread is good for screening. Hope this helps.
Dave - Colorado Springs

I'm in zone 5 and planted phy. a. "spectabilis", phy. a. yellowgroove & phy. humilis last fall. They looked great until late in January / early February when most of the leaves turned brown. Even with brown leaves, they provided a nice screen to block out my ugly neighbors... I also lost a few culms due to the cold and/or wind. The humilis, which has a cold hardiness rating of only -5, did better than the aureosulcata. They are all re-leafing and starting to shoot - even after planting late in the year and having a hard winter. (The dead leaves only started to fall after the new growth began to unfurl.)

With the right plants and plenty of mulch for the winter you should do fine.

Oops, the p. humilis is actually only rated to 0F - and it still weathered well!

Wow, thanks for all the input guys!

P. humilis, eh? That's one of the 4 runners for sale at my "local" nursery (it's about an hour's drive). I've been very sceptical about talking to them about bamboo since they list P. humilis, P. nigra, and P. nuda as all being hardy to zone 3, though when I visited the last week of April, all the bamboo was still safe and sound in a greenhouse away from the public where it clearly overwintered. Hmmmm...
Oh, and the 4th species is "Bambusa argenteo"... also appearently hardy to zone3... but I can't find info on it's habits anywhere.

Dave - Yeah I like the idea of using Fargesia, but I think I'll only use it near my septic bed because I really need something that will propagate like crazy so I don't have to spend mega bucks up front. Thanks for the dose of good news!

I've used bamboo for years for privacy screening. Black bamboo on one side of my yard,golden bamboo on the other side. Both plants grew and spread really fast. They should be planted inside some kind of barrier to keep them in bounds-unless you want them to spread. Keep them well watered during their first year in the ground. Some bamboo plants will get "mites". Check with your nursery on management of that problem. Good luck. I found it to be an easy plant to grow and maitain.