I have a cyperus but it's inside right now, it grows like CRAZY! I never took it out of it's tiny pot and it grew like 4 feet for me! You can keep it in a pot, as long as you water it all the time they don't mind, but for it to grow up with good posture you need to keep it in full sun. During the summer mine only gets morning sun so it leans to the right. It's supposed to grow up to 5 feet, and I believe it!
Not sure about the wind, the only thing the wind would probably do is knock the pot over (if it's top heavy).

Hi Karen,
I grew this outside last summer. I planted it directly in the ground so it was well rooted for any windstorms that came through (I think if it was in a pot it might have blown over)..... none of the summer weather caused any problems, wind or hail or heavy rains.

I thought it was awesome. It easily got to 5 feet, I bet if I fertilized and watered more it would have gone higher. I tried to dig it up and overwinter it, but the looks I was getting from my wife made me think twice. If I grow it again next year I may try and overwinter an offshoot or see if I can get the tops of the stalks to root.
Good luck!

Since c. papyrus is native to Egypt, I'd be surprised if it overwintered in your zone...or mine for that matter.

Sorry Mersiepoo, I didn't want to give the impression that it's overwintering outside (since I already threw it on the compost pile in October!) When I said "if I grow it again next year", I meant that I would be buying a new start of it in the spring.

....now that spring is approaching I think I WILL have to get it again. It looked soo cool with the bananas and elephant ears (which I did manage to overwinter indoors)... even though these plants did not handle the wind and hail as well as the papyrus.
$8 in my limit. If I can find it for that much then it's a go!