Hi folks - I purchased (at great cost!) three large black bamboo plants and set them in pots on my deck this past spring. This winter has been exceptionally hard on them; they have lost more than half of their leaves and the ones remaining are quite shrivelled and pale looking. I'm afraid the winter frost/snow/cold has done irreparable damage. I'm wondering if anyone can suggest aid at this point - I'm willing to try anything to save them.
Will grow back later from whatever remaining live portions there may be. This plant is not hardy enough to leave out in unprotected containers over winter. Roots of plants are much less hardy than tops; after the 1990 winter I saw top damage to long-established black bamboo planted in the ground in Bellingham. If these were on a deck that elevated them above the ground, so much the worse. Pots sitting on the ground at least get some soil warmth through the bottom of the container.
hi Ron thanks for that - should I have wrapped the pots in burlap or something to have protected them from the cold? Is it too late to do that now - would it help at all?