Alright..... First thing, I am in zone 4. Bamboo are some of my favorite plants, and I have had 2 kinds grow successfully with protection - Phyllostachys areosulcata "alata", and Fargesia "Rufa". I know people who grow bamboo in Iowa. The one guy has Phyllostachys nigra and bissetii. I believe they both die back i his north central iowa garden, but he does not protect them, and they are younger plants. You should have no problem with fargesia, but they are not timber bamboo. The main "hardy" timber bamboo is Phyllostachys edulis "moso bamboo". This is reliably hardy in zone 6. I know someone growing them in zone 5 upstate ny, but the lake moderates the climate. There is a "new" species called phyllostachys parvifolia. Touted as "the best timber bamboo for cold climates", and as far as I have read this is actually true! A friend grows it outside of Toronto, and I dont think he has had ANY die back what so ever. I belive heights of 20 feet wont be uncommon even in zone 5 if the canes dont die back! They are also a rampant runner, so you should never run out of canes. It upsizes quick, even in cool climates, and has some of the best rated edible shoots! I finally got a rhizome of it, but the squirrels got to it :( Bamboo is a great source of supports and are economical and sustainable. You can tie a few of the canes together to make a "post". The only thing is, it will take 2 or 3 years to get get good enough size to harvest.

You can't run 20ft without posts in the middle. Four posts about 7ft apart shouldn't need bracing depending on how well the posts are set. If you want the H brace put it on the inside, not out past the 20ft. A 4ft H brace on each end leaves 12 ft in the middle. Stick one post in middle of that 12ft and it will hold up anything.

Hi Cara, I am also gardening in zone 9, although I'm on the east coast. I have several bougainvillas in my garden and they have been very robust plants to say the least. We may have a slightly warmer winter than you but the few freezes that we do have only only burn back to folage a bit. I cover the root and trunk area if a freeze is forcast and the plant bounces back in the spring. I have mine planted against the west side of my house and on a south facing fence. So it may not be as happy in an open, unprotected area. Give this plant plenty of room and good support, it can get HUGE and quite heavy. The thorns are wicked so it could make a good security fence, but it can be an adventure to trim back. Think stout pressure treated wood and rebar instead of fencing wire and posts. I have one of mine on a welded rebar arbor and the other is growing on a stout wood pergoda that my DH built just for it. Like you, I had no idea what this plant would do when I planted it and it took over one whole corner of my yard. I have a low tolerance for unruly plants but the flowers are so beautiful that I decided to make allowances and spend some money on heavy duty supports. Bougainvillea takes pruning very well. I have cut mine back severly several times and it always bounces back bigger than ever. I have seen them trained into a shrub, small tree and even hanging baskets. It would just take a bit of diligence to keep it shaped as you would want it. In my experence, when bougainvillea is planted where its happy, it's a beautiful plant with plans to take over the world. Keep your pruning shears sharp. Happy gardening, Cindy

The farmer's wife is market master and she called me about my insurance certificate, I asked about baling twine and they said it should last 1 season here outside. Didn't get started today, so will do it tomorrow AM (probably take me 3 AMs to get all the plants out, over 100 tomatoes and peppers). Then have to plant the seeds for other stuff - going to be a busy week! Off to TSC to get grounding rods for electric fence and check out baling twine (I don't know if I should ask my dad to take 800ft+ out of the baler when he still has 2 more fields to hay this month - might get 3 cuttings this year). I'm going with the natural instead of the poly since whatever I don't use, we can use in the baler later. Thanks for the link - I knew about no suckering above the top blossoms, but didn't know to look for a sucker *with* blossoms and main stem w/o them! I have already suckered (and taken blossoms off) the largest plants, hope I didn't do that by mistake - or sucker a det type (I don't know what my cousin gave me, but we'll see).