Growing Bamboo in Zone 5

I am interested in growing bamboo. I have looked at a couple of sites on the web and there are some types of bamboo that are winter hardy. Has anyone you know tried bamboo in the Milwaukee area. I live in New Berlin, WI.

I have met several gardeners who are successfully growing bamboo in the north. The Chicago Botanic Garden evaluated bamboos for hardiness, performance and invasiveness several years ago. The results of this study are reported in their Plant Evaluation Notes #3 Bamboo performance and is available on their website at www.chicagobotanic.org . As you review their findings you will see that the hardy bamboos have 100% rhizome survival but the stems (culms) partially or completely die back to the ground each winter. In addition you may want to check out yellow groove bamboo (Phyllostachys aureosulcata) and Umbrella bamboo (Fargesia murielae). The yellow groove bamboo has yellow markings on and some kinks in the culms. Both are clump forming and rated hardy in zone 5.

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