Arundo Donax is definitely hardy in zone 6. I’ve got clump in its 5th year. Pretty thing the variegated one. My neighbor’s thing I’ve got 12 foot tall striped corn growing.
Scott
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I think they called Pseudosasa japonica “Japanese Arrow” .
They look like Japanese Arrow bamboo to me.
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I looked it up and I agree. Must be another bird transplant. It wasn’t there until this year.
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Bamboo rarely seeds, and seedlings do not take off that fast, its just something you hadn’t noticed yet.
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Good info. I didn’t know that. And your right. It could very well be the case I never noticed them before.
@tonyOmahaz5,
How’s your bamboo project doing? I believe you planted yours in ground.
I covered them with grass clippings for winter protection. They were fairly small and died back to the ground level with the -20F. They are now st 3 feet tall. How long did it take yours to grow that big?
4 years. The first year we planted 4 clumps at about 3 ft spacing. We did not cover them but my zone is a bit warmer than yours.
By year 3, they took off. Year 4 they spread quickly. The first 4 years we had winters that were not harsh. During mild winters, bamboo stayed green with little dieback. However, when winter is harsh like with subzero temp, all leaves turned brown. Several canes died.
New shoots always come up. After several years, we had a lot of diebacks that needed to be removed. We just spent 3 days removing nearly 100 dead canes. So, don’t wait too long to remove dead bamboo. It was a lot of work. We will remove dead canes yearly from now on.
Here’s what the grove looks like after clean up.
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Here are mine 2 clumps starting 2 nd leaf and the roots survived the -20F. I hit them with Urea Nitrogen 46-0-0 every ten days to get them going fast.
Tony
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What is the variety ?
I am not sure. @aap traded with me.
Best variety is the free one 
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Yo, those photos are on the tripple brook website! I just bought some green groove.
Here is my question: how much do I need to worry about (or what steps do I need to take to control) running bamboo’s tendency to run?
My idea was to plant some bamboo in front of our porch, where we have a sort of dead mulched flower area. I thought it would be a nice pretty screen and with my wife and our upstairs neighbors all being Chinese-American it would be a nice touch. But then I read some stuff about how aggressive it is and I got nervous about it growing into my neighbor’s yard or under the porch into the foundation or something…
(it’s in the front of the house, on the northeast side, so it only gets a couple hours of early morning sun a day, if that matters).
edit: noting this for myself later Browse Hardy Clumping Bamboo and https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1617138117301243
edit2: Fargesia dracocephala ‘Rufa’ – Clumping Dragon Head Bamboo – Tripple Brook Farm
Worry.
I have had a bunch of running bamboo in my chicken run. It’s at the point that it’s very aggressive. It sent a runner that I missed under the fence and into the lawn toward the pawpaws. That was a P. nuda and I promptly pulled it out. I could’ve cut you out some if you really wanted it. I still have a Spectabilis, Nigra Henon, and Parvifolia. I have a few cold hardy clumpers too.
My Fargesia Rufa got top killed this winter with a -14F. It’s supposedly hardy to -15F.
I had a Murielae and Nitida in pots for the run…those are supposed to be hardy close to -20F.
Good to know. I may reassess for the tiny suburban lot down here then.
After my original post, I stumbled across that ‘rufa’ link, a cold clumping and shade preferring hardy variety that might (?) be a better match for my need (still learning about bamboo) — if indeed more manageable.
I had no idea you could grow bamboo that large (height and width), either at all, and definitely here. I’m tempted to plant some up at the lake…but not sure where I’d do it.
Which cold hardy clumpers do you have, do you remember? (edit you posted as I typed this) I’ve got to come see your setup…
I dug a small bamboo plant on the side of the road today, now planted in the back yard. Looks to be a hardy bamboo that will be 15 feet tall.
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I planted Phyllostachys atrovaginata two summers ago. It seemed like one of the more desirable and beneficial running bamboos. So far it has survived -21 last winter with some dieback. It is growing and slowly spreading, but I expect it to be generally well behaved with our short season. Planted it where I couldn’t plant any trees because of the proximity to the septic mound. Also, it can tolerate wet feet which it is going to have seasonably, being as most the U.P. is a giant swamp from March till early May.
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