I have used very dark brown mulch, and as long as it is just a wood based mulch, you are probably fine.
kay

Don't use the rubber mulch that never breaks down. If you mean the black colored wood mulch, I don't see any harm to it. Some mulches are black, some red, most brown. I have used all the colors and don't ever notice any harm. I put the black mulch very heavily on my roses one year and they loved it. I am sure they would have loved it no matter what color.

I didnt know there WAS any black mulch, at least not any thats not a rubber much.,I am putting shreded up cypress mulch.I have one bed done and I like it.Usually if I can afford to buy any,I get the pine bark mulch, but this was on sale, really cheap.

Jean

I am no "mulch expert" by any stretch of the imagination, but would like to share this with you.

The growth rate of seedlings growing in white plastic pots far exceeds those in black pots. The 200 5-gallon black pots I had bought have gone in the garbage. That's how impressed I was with my discovery.

My husband just bought two bags of black-colored mulch for a small bed of young seedlings. Since he thought he was doing something special for me, I did not say anything. Frankly, if I could find a white mulch that wasn't rock, that's what I'd use.

I suppose the black-colored mulch would be O.K. around mature plants, as long as you leave it at least 6" away from the crowns.

Nancy

Dark colors absorb heat while lighter colors reflect it. In the past, in this area, fresh mulch packed to close to the plant and too deep has caused crown rot due to the heat generated as it composts. Darker colored mulch would only exacerbate this problem. I prefer and use aged pine bark mulch with no dyes or additives.
Ed

I tend to stay away from the dyed mulches because I heard that they were chipping up some pressure treated wood and adding it to some of the mix. I really don't know if it is true or not but I don't want pressure treated wood in the yard at all. I only use cypress or shredded leaves and straw.

I use the Mini Pine Bark Mulch. I noticed it is higher this year at Lowes than the regular pine bark nuggets.
My son got me 10 bags this past weekend. I use the larger size around shrubbery, azaleas, and in natural areas. I buy a lot of it all summer. Sarah

I've used the black and will again. I've never had any problems.

OH,I'm really glad I read this thread, even though I'm not a mulcher. I know that generally black absorbs heat and white reflects but didn't think about that so much in the sense of large black pots, but I did notice this year that the black felt-like fabric pots daylilies overwintered very well and black plastic pots a lot of them are not looking so hot and both were grown on same side of building.

Thanks everyone, for the info and the opinions. When I first became curious, my thoughts were about creosote and wondering if the mulch might contain it. The information I found on the Internet said that black-dyed mulch is not good for the environment.

I really like the look of the darker mulch and will leave it in place this year since I used very little of it. But I think I'll remove it in the fall, then next year I'll use only the dark wood that isn't dyed.