Hardy Bamboo Plants
Typical bamboo plants are hardy to about 10 degrees F. (-12 C.). Since the temperatures in zone 7 can dip to 0 degrees (-18 C.), you’ll want to grow cold hardy bamboo plants. Two principal kinds of bamboo are clumpers and runners.
Running bamboo can be invasive since it grows quickly and spreads by underground rhizomes. It is very hard to eliminate once established. Clumping bamboos only grow a little every year, about one inch (2.5 cm.) in diameter annually. They are not invasive.
If you want to start growing bamboo in zone 7, you can find cold hardy bamboos that are clumpers and others that are runners. Both zone 7 bamboo varieties are available in commerce.
Zone 7 Bamboo Varieties
If you plan on growing bamboo in zone 7, you’ll need a short list of zone 7 bamboo varieties.
Clumping
If you want clumpers, you might try Fargesia denudata, hardy in USDA zones 5 through 9. These are unusual bamboo plants that arch gracefully. This bamboo thrives in icy weather, but also in humid high temperatures. Expect it to grow to between 10 and 15 feet (3-5 m.) tall. For a taller clumping specimen, you could plant Fargesia robusta ‘Pingwu’ Green Screen, a bamboo that stands upright and grows to 18 feet (5.5 m.) tall. It makes an excellent hedge plant and offers lovely persistent culm sheaths. It thrives in zones 6 through 9. Fargesia scabrida ‘Oprins Selection’ Asian Wonders are also hardy bamboo plants that grow happily in USDA zones 5 through 8. This bamboo is colorful, with orange culm sheaths and stems that begin blue gray but mature to a rich olive shade. These clumping varieties of bamboo for zone 7 grow to 16 feet (5 m.).
Runners
Are you are growing bamboo in zone 7 and willing to fight with your cold hardy bamboo plants to keep them where you belong? If so, you might try a unique runner plant called Phyllostachys aureosulcata ‘Lama Temple.’ It grows to 25 feet tall (8 m.) and is hardy to -10 degrees F. (-23 C.). This bamboo is a bright gold hue. The sunward side of the new stems flush cherry red their first spring. Its bright shades seem to light up your garden.
