Bamboo in Rockville, MD, zone 7A

[PalmatierMeg]

Hello plant lovers,

My son lives in a house in Rockville, MD, just northwest of Washington. His and his neighbors' houses are separated by dense stands of bamboo about 30+ feet tall. He doesn't need a back fence for the dog and is totally screened from his back neighbor. Many people think bamboo is a totally tropical plant but this bamboo has survived winters that fall down to low single digits Fahrenheit. But looking out his family room window, you'd swear he had a jungle back there.

[Eric in Orlando]

There are quite a few bamboos hardy into zone 7 and 6b. My ex-wifes parents lived near Manassas, VA, just south of DC and had Phyloostachys aureosulcata, P. nigra, and Pseudosasa japonica in their yard. The P. nigra (Japnese Black Bamboo) was especially striking when there was a snow cover and the black canes stood out. I remember seeing some Phyllostachys species growing in quite a few yards in Georgetown.

Here is a big clump of P. aureosulcata at Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, zone 6b/7a

[Mark_NoVA]

That looks like Phyllostachys aureosulcata, 'Yellow Groove Bamboo', which appears to be the most common type of bamboo in the DC region. Another common type of bamboo in the region is Pseudosasa japonica, 'Arrow Bamboo'. For whatever reason, don't see much else around here, even though more can grow here.

There are a fair amount zone 6 participants in the bamboo forum over at http://www.bambooweb.info/.