There is some small leaved clumping bamboo that grows at a rest area between Tivoli and Fulton on HWY 35 that looks really nice. It is not affected by the wind at all. I don't think wind would bother larger clumpers either. You may want to look into some of the more colourful culmed clumpers...something with yellow culms and green stripes or maybe a blue culmed bamboo. My biggest concern would be salt spray from an occasional hurricane, which would burn the leaves, but not necessarily kill the plant. I know some people growing bamboo on Galveston Island and it has survived salt spray. Kt

I voted for maple early and will stand by my vote. But I want to say again that my vote is for durability reasons (and not design reasons). I would not stain the maple, but that is for design reasons, I think maple picks up stain in a weird way. The reason I am posting again isn't to weight the vote but to share a thought I had about end grain maple. Could you have a section made in end grain and have that mounted in your counter for a durable surface some where. There is a kitchen on this site that has an island that I think is marble, then at one end has an end grain section made of walnut. IT IS BEAUTIFUL, and practical.

I did install the macabus on the counters and backsplash and really love it too. It is very durable and like kstuy there have been no staining or etching issues. It really is maintenance free. It is up there in price though - higher than a lot of granites and quite a bit more than carrera but less than calacutta marble.

Happy Belated Birthday! If you have limited space, I cannot recommend Brother Cadfael. He throws out huge canes. I now have one that is about 6 feet tall. For some reason this year he had just gotten bigger than ever. That is with severe pruning. He mostly stands about 5 feet tall. Good first bloom then sporadic afterwards. He doesn't like the heat and will bloom when it cools down. Scent to die for! Not great as a cut flower. I adore this rose and will never be without it. Here he is as a baby plant. He is very easy to start on his own root. Which is what this picture shows. Here is a more established version that I cut back to about 2 feet in January. This is his picture in May. Those rungs are 4 inches apart and the arbor starts at about 6 inches off the ground. You can barely make out the first rung. Sharifa Asma. Love that rose. Gets to be about 3--4 feet by 3--4 feet. Great first blush. Spotty afterwards. Poor rebloom until it cools down again. Scent to die for. Gorgeous blooms. Love that rose but she got the shovel prune this year. I miss her terribly. If you want a pink with beautiful cupped blooms that stays relatively "small" for an Austin in an area that has warm summers, I would recommend Pretty Jessica. She gets to be about 5 feet tall and is not very wide. Blooms well in the heat. Great rose.