Try Ray at Tropic to Tropic in British Columbia. I know for a fact he has this and many other bamboo species as well. This is a retail outlet, and as such you'll be expected to pay all applicable fees.

Check his website below.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tropic to Tropic

Julie-
If you are indeed in Zone 3, black bamboo won't survive outside in your winter...you'll not only lose the aboveground growth, but the inground rhizomes. Do you have a greenhouse, or are you going to try it as an indoor plant, or at least put it in a pot that you bring in for winter?

Thank you for the sugestions.I will grow it in my living room.I will try Tropic to Tropic I herd they had a wonderful selection of rare tropicals but never thought to look there for bamboo. I had given up on Canadian stores, finding lots of hardy bamboos but no tropicals.

Julie

>I had given up on Canadian stores,
>finding lots of hardy bamboos
>but no tropicals.

Julie,

I'm confused. Are you looking for a tropical black or a temperate black (like P. nigra as in your first post)?

Roy

I thought P. nigra was a tropical,its not?

Ahh ... the mist is beging to lift. Ph. nigra is a weed here (nice as weeds go though) but it's certainly not tropical. Either way, you'll need some impressive interior space to grow bamboo indoors! Have you checked the websites to learn of the overall size/proportions of bamboo?

Cheers, Barrie (Vancouver Island)

Thanks for the links and info. P.nigra is still my favorite so I was wondering,If its not tropical,Does it need a cool resting period? and regarding space I have a large area That I wanted covered up fast. thats what drew me to bamboo in the first place

Julie

mitch ... got your e-mail re black bamboo. I have no way to reply as this note was included in your e-mail.

"(PLEASE NOTE: The member responding to your post has chosen not to reveal his or her email address. Therefore, you cannot reply to this message via email.)"

There's a bamboo forum here which I prefer.
http://www.ubcbotanicalgarden.org/forums/

or e-mail - laspalmasnorte at shaw dot ca

Cheers, Barrie.

Black bamboo (Phllostachys nigra) is not a tropical, but it does suffer in zones colder than zone 7. Here, it is hardy and shows no damage in heavy snows, sleet, freezing rain, and normal winter cold, but it cannot tolerate temps much lower than 0-5 F (which pretty much defines zone 7 as the lower minimum temperature limits).

I'm confused Julie. In one post you say you will be growing the P. Nigra in your living room, and a few posts later you say "regarding space I have a large area That I wanted covered up fast". You either live in a mighty big house or these two statements seem at odds to me. Either way, P. Nigra is not the best choice for indoor bamboo, and starting plants from seed is not the way to get an area "covered up fast". Why not try a five gallon Pseudosasa japonica plant or something along those lines? For a Canadian source, there is Bamboo World in Chilliwack, BC. They will ship a plant which will get you going and no issues with the US boarder.

Here is a link that might be useful: bamboo world (BC)