In which The Gay Recluse becomes increasingly obsessed with bamboo.

We planted bamboo a few years ago in a cement planter we constructed along the back of our garden. The concept is that it’ll grow about 100 feet tall and block out the apartment buildings behind us.

It’s also hardy to Zone 4, which means it’s safe to -25 or something like that. (Heat and humidity doesn’t bother it either.)

We sometimes wish that we were a stand of this bamboo, so beautiful and impervious to whatever extremes the world has to offer, and which only rarely expresses its impatience by softly scratching its leaves against the surrounding walls.