Bamboo forum might be of help.

phyllostachys parvifolia or virila. they are probably the closest thing you'll find for zone five. you should double check how hardy the culms are.

I like the clumping types as they don't spread out of control a few that are to zone five, check out Bamboo garden.
Here is mine a Fargesia sp. 'Scabrida' Zone 6!

Not reliable in zone 5.

"Not reliable in zone 5."

Yes, the one I have but a few clumping types are, go to Bamboo Garden to see them. FYI mine took -14 degrees F without a problem.

Hardy clumpers don't make big culms.

"Hardy clumpers don't make big culms."

Yeah I guess if you want to use the bamboo for fishing poles or something? Here is Fargesia Murielae Zone 5-9

If you try the running type, this could happen to you!

Here is a link that might be useful: Running Bamboo

Nice video, that is one of the best species for zone 5.

There are harder plants to control then bamboo, especially in zone 5. I am in zone 4 and its taken 4 years for it to even get to 6 feet, and almost no spread at all (so far, Im aware of the possibilities ). Its barely spread over 2 feet.

The best bamboo for zone 5, as drew showed are probably some species of Fargesia.

The ones I mentioned above are generally new in popularity so there isnt a lot of information. People in colder zones have good reports so far.

Not all zone 5's are equal. My zone 5, Phyllostachys genus is the best.

"Not all zone 5's are equal. My zone 5, Phyllostachys genus is the best."

I have to agree with you. The clumping does grow slow in colder zones, but the running tends to grow too fast in warmer zones. If you had to remove it, would it be hard to do? We have phragmites here that are a pain and have killed off most of the cat tails.
I just want a small ornamental bush, and the clumping types are cool. Beautiful looking too. The one I have has gorgeous orange culms. One that looks great is black cherry.

I agree about the statement about zones. My zone 6 is cold, compared to zone 6 in TN! We get a lot less rain too.
We had 13 days below zero this winter. With -14 being the coldest. 4 days were double digit below zero. That will never happen in TN or MO, which both have zone 6 areas too. So we got zone 5 cold, at times. If you look at SE MI, it is a zone 6 surrounded by zone 5. The Great Lakes keep us slightly warmer...sometimes! How many zone 6's have a zone 5 south of them? We do!

Phyllostachys would grow well here, but I'm not willing to put up barriers to contain it, and I would have to do that.

My wife was mad at me for buying bamboo, then she saw
the 'Scabrida' and fell in love with it. She told me she had no idea it was so beautiful.

Here is a link that might be useful: Black Cherry

This post was edited by Drew51 on Sun, Apr 13, 14 at 1:57

I am just bundling up the last of the bamboo (unknown type, but running) cut down in my yard. I believe my entire cul de sac was a bamboo grove before development in the mid '60s. I can empathize with the guy in the video with the sad face holding a clump of roots. I removed the roots from a 15' x 4' section-- it took me a day and a half. This was on the edge of it's growth, so it wasn't even the densest root system of what I have. The rest, I just cut down and will remove any shoots and pray the roots die off.

From my experience, trying to contain it by cutting back the areas where you don't want it doesn't work. The rhizomes continue to run out and it seems to push new growth on top of what is already there, making an incredibly dense mass of roots and shoots where you do want it. I would guess that walling it off would have the same impact-- minus the rhizomes running. It really wants to spread. I have seen runners climb over walls and would guess they would go pretty low to get under walls too.

I'm in a zone 7, but food for thought if you are thinking of planting any.

The thing about bamboo is that "survival" temps are anything but simple....

For instance, Phyllostachys areosulcata is usually rated hardy to -25C. That is for the roots. You will have severe leaf loss and die back in those temps. It gets leaf damage around -15C and starts to die back between the aformentioned temps.

Zone 5 according to the usda is -29C. This will/more then likely top kill almost any phyllostachys. The only Fargesia I know of that has taken those temps is F nitida, and maurielae. Rufa is hardy but not quite as the above. The leaves fry around -18C.

Zone 6 is your best chance for full survival with phyllostachys, unless you decide to bent it down and tarp it under heavy mulch. Of course micro climates come into play and length of cold as well as snow pack.

If you are in zone 5 and even some zone 6 areas with little snow fall the odds are it wont spread too aggressively. Once you protect the roots then it will have the protection to spread.