Yes, it depends greatly on weather conditions. The soil must reach a certain temperature before shooting goes in ernest. P Nigra as a late shooter, May in the Pacific Northwest. Aurea likely sooner.

I'm in the north, my bamboo (which I though was P Nigra henon but the culms are turning yellow in the sun) starts shooting around the end of May.

mersiepoo - henon will turn yellowish in the sun, it is only the older culms that turn to the grayish color you may have been expecting, i've had it for 5 years and it frequently gets nipped back by cold so i have never had any culms that were able to ripen, they start out green and fade to a golden/olive color - i would not let that single factor convince you that yours is not henon. the shoots of the nigra forms are pretty distinct and easy to veryify the id

Hi Inversa!

Hmm, that is very interesting! I'll have to take a picture of my bamboo later on and post it. Thanks! I thought they gave me the wrong 'boo.