I grow it in WI. but, it's in a 25 gal. pot, and goes into the
garage for winter. As of right now, it looks as good as when
I put it away for the winter.

Unless you have a zone 7 micro-climate, I don't think it would
survive the winter outside. I'm sure the experts will chime in here.

I'm Zone 8, so I don't have experience growing in your Zone, but Ph. nigra has a hardiness rating of 0 degrees F, which suggests to me that bringing it in for the winter would be prudent.

I haven't tried nigra because many people on this forum have mentioned that the culms (live canes) take almost an entire growing season to turn black. You could probably grow it outside, but you'd never have black culms unless you buried them during winter to protect them from topkill.

Mike

Maybe you'll just have to try it. Eventually, I'll have to divide mine, and since you're just down the road by an hour or so, maybe we could work a trade :)

phyllostachys nigra hasn't been recommended for zone 5 growers. If you want to try a bamboo with black culms, grow the cold-hardiest variety and paint the culms black for your ornamental purposes.

OK, Rokwiz. Sounds good! I have a varied collection so there'll be something you like for sure. And anyway, what's a bamboo collection w/o nigra?

New England Bamboo Co. in Rockport, Mass. (zone 6b) had a beautiful stand of P. nigra for years. But it was killed during the snowless, colder-than-normal winter in 2004.

It's a gamble in my zone 6b area, so zone 5 is totally "forget it" unless you keep it in a container and keep it in a garage or celler like rokwiz.

Cady: Did your nigra die out or just top kill and come back?

I've been growing it in a cold zone 6. Last winter when temps dropped to -2 F it lost about a quarter of the culms with another quarter partially killed but still had plenty of vigor for new growth. About 8 or 9 years ago all my bamboo was killed to the ground (including nuda) at -14 or so but all came back including nigra. My nigra is on an exposed hillside in heavy clay/mudstone soil.

Dave,
I lost it. But, I had planted it late in the season, and it didn't have a chance to establish before the unusually cold snowless winter we had the winter before last. The grove in Rockport was a very well settled one that they'd kept for years, and that grove never died to the ground as far as I recall. Mine was a fluke. I'd try P. nigra again.

Thankyou for the info,I'm sure there has to be some type of bamboo that would have a better chance of survival in my zone5.Lake erie is 6 miles north of me and some zonal maps show that as a sub zone although i don't feel that it puts me in a z6.

One's with possible better survival in zone 5:
phyllostachys nuda
phyllostachys aureosulcata
phyllostachys rubromarginata
phyllostachys bissetii
phyllostachys atrovaginata
If you don't limit yourself to color of culm , these will be better choices than phyllostachys nigra.

lkz5ia made good suggestions. All of those 'boos are root-rhizome hardy in zone 5, and two (nuda, bissetii) are evergreen to -20F if they are not constantly buffetted by icy winds.

I've seen at least one clone burn in Zone 8. Most years black bamboo is hardy here, of course.

Does anyone still have any of these plants that they could divide, i would be looking to trade or pay shipping.

Thanks

I have only a small plant I just put in the ground here in NC to see how it does in our chill. Hoping it tolerates well.
Blessings,

I have a p. nigra (henon-same zone as regular p. nigra), if the temps go below 0, the tops die back, but then it comes back next year. Spreads VERY sloooooooly! Even when the temps don't go below 0 (like last year), the culms that survived winter where I am are yellow because they don't get any shade. It's supposed to be a nice gray color, but I never saw it turn. May as well have planted something hardy that changes color, like yellow groove, lol!

I live in Pittsburgh & planted black bamboo up against stone wall on windy hill in the late summer/autumn of last year. It survived the snowy winter.

Black Bamboo is only hardy to about 6b. In 6b, it will burn some and take a few more years to become established but is worth growing if you like bamboo. In zone 7, it doesn't burn and is less aggressively spreading than other Phyllostachys species. Even in zone 7, they take several years before showing black culms. Personally, I like bamboo for the green color in the winter and they look amazing after it snows. If they died back or browned regularly, I would focus on another hardier variety.

I've had P Nigra for 1 year and over-wintered it in an un-heated greenhouse last winter and it had no leaf burn at all and made shoots the following spring however during the middle of summer, the old culms dried up and died well after the new shoots were grown.

I have a P Nigra henon growing in the ground since spring of 09 that seems to be holding up to the zone 6 winter here, probably thanks to the snowfall.