I recall seeing on a garden show that certain kinds of bamboo make good houseplants. If I remember right you want to get the clumping kind, not the spreading kind. The spreading kind will send out runners that will bust up the pot. Other than that they probably just need some bright light and should be set.

Thank you for the reply Manda. I got proactive yesterday after hitting rock bottom. I was able to reach over the hog wire since its so thin and I pulled up every stick, log and branch. It felt good. Really Good. He "caught" me in the act and I confronted him, mentioning codes, branches from a 2 year old ice storm, not mowing, rats and other rodents and that this fence solution would not fly and he had to do something because I am going to call the city. We had already politely suggested people who worked cheap and ideas on four occasions so I feel he has had every chance. It will take me probably 3 city pickups to get rid of what I pulled out yesterday but it was a great way to work out my anger. I found out the fine for the stagnant pond is $1000. The cut branches were listed as a violation but I don't think they fine you for that. Stagnant water--serious business. They make 3 visits, a warning, a second to see if it in compliance and then a third to clean it up and bill the person. Each visit is charged $200 unless you do something. I feel better. One way or another the party is over. No more molly coddleing.

There is a giant grass, miscanthus giganteus that can grow 7 to 9 feet high and is hardy to zone 4. It sort of gives that 'bamboo' feel. Else maybe a red grass like Japanese blood grass, imperata cylindrica 'red barron'? I suppose any grass can look sort of tropical, depending on what it's combined with. Glen

I missed your question before, Anna-Lyssa. The thyme is Thymus longicaulis, which I recall as being commonly called "timo al pepe" in Italian, though I didn't find that name when I did a Google search. Remarkably for a thyme, it needs either part shade or some moisture; it creeps about agreeably under shrubs, and is nice to have climbing through prostrate rosemary. You can use it in cooking, though I prefer the dusty sweetness of regular thyme, which however has a hard time finding places to live in my garden. I really need to get a goodlooking clay pot and plant some there. Ingrid, thanks for the guidelines. It appears that one has to shoot when the light is right. I understand what you mean about ugly elements in the background of photos! Some time ago, before the current iphone era, DD and I went around the garden with her smartphone and she obligingly snapped pictures for me. It was striking how the scraggly black locusts showed up in the photos; I had had no idea to what extent my brain edited out ugly and discordant notes when I looked at my garden. But the photos showed them all. Carol, I hope your daughter is doing well. I'm glad we've provided you reading matter as you waited. Anna-Lyssa is a good distance away from me, but at least she's reachable, and it is wonderful to have another gardener to talk with and exchange plants with. I hope to see bart one day, too. It's so dry here, and the forecasts are discouraging: no rain in sight anywhere. Our valley, where thousands of people live, flat ran out of water this year and had to be re-supplied from Liguria, and I'm afraid we're heading right back to that same situation. Of course I can't plant with the weather as it is, and since I put my back out a few days ago I can't do any work at all--I can't even stand up straight, never mind dig holes or lift watering cans, DH gets all the garden chores--and the weather is sheerly depressing. I made a substantial book order yesterday; if I can't do anything else, I'll go live in fictional worlds for a while. This has been a bad year all round: 2017, annus horribilis.