http://www.lewisbamboo.com/pvivax.html

... says -5F, Zone7.

You'd probably be happier with something more winter hardy, like Ph. nuda or Fargesia nitida or murieliae. Ph. vivax is also a thin-walled, brittle bamboo that has a high breakage rate from snow loading. If you really want to grow vivax well, you might have to move...

My vivax shows signs of damage at 0F. It did survive temps around -10F 2 years back, but with total defoliation and the the top 1/3 of the culms were killed, and I think its survival was a freak occurance, considering I have heard it dies back completely at 0F in some areas of the Northeast. Last year with a low of 3F at my house it suffered about 50% defoliation, but no damage to the culms.

Thanks for the info. I have been searching for ph nuda. problem is - noone within driving distance of me sells it. (at least that I can find) I really dont want to pay the huge shipping costs for a live potted plant and nobody seems to sell bare root rhizomes. I found a place about 2 hrs away that sells vivax and they were telling me it would survive (I was quite skeptical about that claim but I thought it wouldn't hurt to ask on here)I really prefer the nuda anyway so let me ask this: does anyone know of a nursery in north central pa or south central ny that sells ph nuda? im talking any place between lewisburg pa and elmira-corning ny. or as an alternative- does anyone know of a mail order nursery that sells bare root bamboo rhizomes? thanks again

Bamboo plantation, a bamboo mail order nursery, has nuda. A one gallon is listed at 15 dollars, plus probably around 10 dollars shipping I would guess.

Here is a link that might be useful: Bamboo plantation- are you scared of bamboo yet??

It would DIEEEEEEEE.....

You don't want to be buying bareroot bamboo. There are many quality bamboo dealers that charge a reasonable price to ship bamboo with an intact rootball. Even though it's not close to you, www.bambu-u.com has good mail order prices.

My well established grove of vivax was mostly undamaged by -1F last winter, but did significant damage to new plantings. I think you'll find major defoliation with nuda as well at below -10F. The last time it got that cold at my place, the nuda and aureosulcata were totally defoliated with many culms killed. It hasn't been much below zero since I've had the vivax so I can't really compare them.
Kudzu is right about vivax culms' tendency to break. They also flop over frequently with wind and rain. They do size up quickly, however, and look really impressive after taking out the broken and flopped canes. They also make good shoots for eating. Nuda is good too but definitely is a lot slower to spread and size up than vivax.

Try Burton's Bamboo here near Cincinnati. I really like buying from them. Shipping is included in the price, but you may want to wait until next spring because I think it is too late to plant bamboo around here. We could have a severe winter and seriously throw back any progress it would have made establishing itself in the fall.

Here is a link that might be useful: Burton's Bamboo

i bought a henon from bambu-u (good prices i thought) last year. small but they survived(well it put up new shoots) my winter in Jersey...i'm a z6. I also got a bisettii this year. I'm trying to go with some of the hardier types this year. My yellow groove survived this winter. I was told to stay away from vivax because of the snow....I would hate to have a nice size culm snap with a 12 to 18 inch snow storm.

I'm also giving dulcis a try. Rubro is on my list to get though too.

Hope this helps.

Kurt

Kurt brings up a good point. HOw much snow causes the vivax to break?

i to would not try vivax...try P.bissetti or green grove(spectabilis)....beware that running bamboo do spead...you might try fargesia as it a clumping very cold hard bamboo...you can lay it over to the ground/bury it also in snow in winter and cover it up to protect it..you might contact david c andrews at po box 358 oxon hill,md 20750 and send him a large sase and he will send you a price list..ive not bought from him yet but i know others that have and his prices are very good.

Here is a link that might be useful: east coast bamboo group

As far as Vivax goes....there was a post earlier in the year (it skips my mind as who posted it...sorry) but anyway he had picks of some of his snapped culms. I was interested to see how thin the walls of the culm were...i have never seen one....the culms snapped becaue of some of the storms/tropical storms. I believe that scenario was wind. we get snow...alot of times its super heavy because of the moisture. we don't get the type of snow the midwest gets.....I'm not a skier but i have some friends that are...they say that west coast snow is much different than here....so snow might not be the factor but weight is......so if you get alot of that powdery snow in your area during your winters, it might not be such a bad sp. to try. Just more thoughts on vivax....

Kurt

If you like the look of Vivax, I would not hesitate to grow it in a cold/snowy zone 6. I've had Vivax & V Aureocaulis the past few winters and I picked up the Huangwenzhu & Huang Inversa this spring as I find the species worth growing here in 5b/6.

It will produce larger diameter culms than the hardier species for the first few years even with top kill. After 4-6 years the Rubro, Yellow Groove, Nuda, and hardier species will catch up and pass it but every mild winter where it does not topkill the Vivax will leap up in size the following spring and I know that Jerry Burton has had 2 inch Vivax culms one spring in his zone 5 north of Cincy.

Mine did not have any culms break in an 18 inch snow last winter, nor has it ever had a culm break but this may be due to the soil mine is planted in. It is in a raised bed with a soil mix that I made and it is too loamy, the culms lean over pretty severly to the extent that I prune them into a hedge to keep them upright. The 18 inch snow was wet enough to make really nice snowballs.

As painful as it may sound, you could consider pruning the Vivax shorter before the first snowfall if you are worried about the culms snapping. Yes, it would be shorter but it probably will topkill anyway and if it didn't you would have the hedge look only until the new spring shoots have elongated. I actually like the hedge look, you can see a bit of it in my post in the gallery.