Home of the Practically Perfect Pink Phlox and other native plants for pollinators

Monday, December 29, 2008

Taprooted

I am tap rooted to Clay and Limestone...
The dry creek in the Garden of Benign Neglect

I could no more try to make this garden
anything other than what it is.

The Susans, Coneflower, Red Cedar and Little Bluestem

A cedar glade plant haven,
a wilderness of wildflowers that feed

the butterflies,
bees,

and other creatures.


I am taprooted.

Rusty Blackhaw dressed for autumn


With lateral roots that reach out to embrace the special,

the different.


My roots grow deeply into this clay soil,
past the limestone bedrock
to find purchase.


I am taprooted.

Tennessee Coneflower's Sun Salutation

My head following the sun all day long.
My roots growing deeply into this clay soil,
past the limestone bedrock
to find purchase.

I am taprooted to Clay and Limestone.
Garden of Benign Neglect ~Phlox Pilosa before honeysuckle removal.
Spring 2008

Thank you for stopping by and visiting.  

Taprooted came to me while  I was wondering around the newly cleared Wayback and the Garden of Benign Neglect thinking of my earlier garden experiences. What a bumpy  journey it was, but we arrived at a garden that is deeply rooted with  native plants  that were already here and  thrive in clay and limestone.  

But now,  what I want to know is  ~~  What taproots you to your garden?

Gail

84 comments:

  1. Good morning Gail, your garden photos are a lovely reminder of the seasons that have gone by and those yet to come. There is great excitement in the cleared areas waiting for your touch. I can't wait to see how it evolves. As for my taproots, I have moved too many times to have a taproot, I'm more transplantable, like Annie. :-)
    Frances

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  2. Hi!
    Just love those fishis! I think I have to come up with something like them... in my ceramic for my garden!
    Linda

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  3. Because I sprouted far away from my current location, and was transplanted here only 5 1/2 years ago, I'd have to say these things taproot me here:
    1. The discoveries I've made here, such as the lilac in shade, and my determined caring for them.
    2. The tenacity of the volunteers, like the wild weeping cherries, and how they grow more beautiful as they mature.
    3. The old friends we've planted here: oak leaf hydrangea, seedlings of redbud we brought from our old home, bleeding heart and favorite hosta.
    4. New friends we've been able to accommodate in this expanded space: cryptomeria, witch hazel, serviceberry, Calamagrostis 'Karl Forster', buddleia, Sarcococca ruscifolia (Sweet box) and others.
    5. The sweat Garden Man and I have dripped into the soil as we've worked to make gardens.
    All these things taproot us to this space.

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  4. Love your fish in your dry stream bed. I like these things in a garden. I bet you can't wait until spring! What taproots me to my garden? All the years of digging with the shovel. Right now I have a problem though. The water company may be coming thru my front yard garden-I might be a bit less taprooted then as this town is not all I'd like it to be. But moving all my husband's cars and the fact the kids love it here will keep us here forever.

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  5. Gail .. here I am NOT at the end of the pack finally !! now that is amazing ..
    Frances .. expressed it .. when you have moved so often you don't "stick" .. and that isn't always a bad thing .. it makes you strong .. so you can begin again and again if you have to .. it gives you fresh perspective. Love of gardening in itself is my taproot .. something like the phrase "it is , what it is" .. gardening for me is the root that keeps me coming back each Spring after a long winter. I'm so happy to feel that rush when I thought perhaps I wouldn't any more : )

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  6. Ah, memories of seasons past. It's so nice to see all of those bright shinig flower faces. I guess I tend to transplant often even so I haven't had a taproot. I do think that this could be the place though.

    I want more for my children than I have had. We all really like it here too. The people are friendly, they seem to need Cheesehead at his store, I love all of the plants that grow around here as well as the ability to grow even more. That, and the fact that I'll probably never get financing for another house anyway.

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  7. Gail,

    "Taprooted" is a beautiful sentiment. The accompanying photos are so perfect with the words.

    I am finally taprooted after a winding journey. The Musician and I often don't leave our property for days at a time!

    Why am I taprooted?

    This is the first time that I've felt really HOME.
    HOME was designed to CONNECT the OUTDOORS.
    The OUTDOORS overflows with NATURE.
    NATURE inspires the GARDENS.
    The GARDENS give me PEACE.
    PEACE slows me down to savor LIFE and LOVE.

    Cameron

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  8. Gail, What a lovely post! All your photos are such a welcome sight this sunny but cold morning as well.
    My taproots come from generations of gardeners and farmers who lived on the land before me, preserving it and depending on it for their livelihood. I think of those who toiled before me every time I dig up a new bed of soil for a new planting.

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  9. Hi Gail, great post. I have a very strong feeling for my farm, the land, the house, everything. I've lived in a lot of places but Illinois is the only place that really feels like home.
    Marnie

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  10. Frances,

    It is difficult for me to imagine moving all over the country. Each time you move, you've put roots down and create beautiful gardens. That is an amazing skill to a taprooted soul like me! I have only moved once and unless we decide to downsize, we may be here for a long time!

    The hardest part of clearing the Wayback...is the waiting, as my hands are itching to dig and plant!
    It is better for me to wait, to see how I want the garden to'feel'. Although, I have begun to eliminate plant possibilities! Gail

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  11. Linda,

    I can't wait to see what you create! Can you make them garden hardy?

    Gail

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  12. Kim,

    A wonderful list of taprootings! I especially like the last bit...how you and Gardenman have dripped into the soil! It's a beautiful metaphor!

    Gail

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  13. Tina,

    The digging and commitment to the garden is a deep taproot! What do you mean the city is digging up your front garden...I need to know more about this so I can get outraged along with you!

    The fish were a find at a garage sale...gosh, I wish the owners would have another one! They own a florist shop and the garden goodies they have are delightful!

    Gail

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  14. Joy,

    Hi! Mr I once asked me how I would feel if we sold everything and bought a trailer and moved around the country...while it might be a nice adventure for a little bit of time, there is no way I could not garden. It strikes me that you are like that, too...you are gardening where you are and it is that root, which feeds your soul.

    Gail

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  15. Perhaps my soil is too sandy & I've had to move and leave bits behind - I'd say I was tap-rooted to my family and friends. Gail, those coneflowers and soft sunlight make me yearn for the warmer days ahead.

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  16. Cinj,

    Hello...you are a dear and loving mother, taprooted to providing sustenance and love for your family. Doesn't that sound like I am a fortune teller? I hope that this new home is where you can set down your garden roots. I look forward to seeing your garden this spring!

    Gail

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  17. Barbarapc,

    I think that we are all taprooted by many wonderful people, places, gardens and even careers!

    The coneflowers are pretty cool...I shot the photo at a Cedar Glade, there were thousands of them, all facing toward the sun!

    gail

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  18. A lovely post. I was thinking as I read, "Why would you want it to be any different?" What you wrote is the definitive wish for any garden I think. When we labor, we are anchored to its moods and soil. The garden stabilizes me like nothing else. I am rooted to my red soil too.~~Dee

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  19. Marnie,

    That's it...the taproot, what feels like home, what bonds us to the land.

    Gail

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  20. Hi Gail. I always love your post titles. So clever and unique. Alas, I don't feel as taprooted as you do but I have moved too many times to experience that feeling. I think of myself as Frances, transplantable. It's good you feel that connection and are working in harmony with Clay & Limestone. The relationship is apparent. Your photos are food for the soul this bleak winter day. I know it won't be long before some of those sights greet us in the garden again. Happy New Year to you Gail!

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  21. Cameron,

    Another beautifully stated taprooted response! Your garden is lovely and it's so clear how connected your soul is to your home and garden!

    Gail

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  22. Hi Gail,
    I guess I'm tap rooted to this piece of earth till I have been called home. I had a lot of yrs here watching things come alive or watch something die.
    Maybe it's the mild winters that hold me here. To be able to garden in the winter is awesome. I really felt at home at our old place--veggie gardens, flowers, trees, shrubs & friends. But life has a way of changing things, so we must change also. Sometime we must garden alone.
    Have a very HAPPY NEW YEAR.

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  23. Kathleen,

    Moving around isn't an experience I've had as an adult. My Mr and I had chaotic childhoods with way too much moving and I think that we like being a bit taprooted to Nashville!

    I am glad you enjoyed the summery photos...winter can be very bleak and gray!...and the titles are so much fun to play with...Look for "You Say You Want A Resolution" post title at Blotanical...that is a good one from Victoria.

    Happy New Year to you!

    gail

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  24. Rose,

    What a lovely image...as you dig and plant there are all the previous tenants and farmers right there with you! Did you like the peak at PPPP?

    Gail

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  25. Dee,

    Thank you...a sweet compliment from a professional! Why would I want it to be any different~~the attraction to plants I cannot grow without major amounts of maintenance! Forget water lovers...unless they like their water in winter and a lot of it! Almost anything that requires sharp drainage!

    I love that you are rooted to red dirt...I have this picture of you, a red rose in hand, you're leaning on a shovel with a look of joy on your face.

    Gail

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  26. Gail, what a lovely sentiment. One that comes through all your post about Clay and Limestone. Your pictures are a wonderful reminder how beautiful are your gardens. Thank you for sharing them on this cold blustery day.

    Yes, I am tap rooted-to the garden which has been a continuous work in progress for 34 years! But I think my main tap root is my family who all live so close. I could never move away. I am planted in the perfect spot. :}

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  27. Lola,

    You sound like you are more at peace with your Florida garden. Now that winter is here it must be a joy to be able to go outside and get your hands into the soil. Yep, I am rooted here, too. We talk about building a very diffeent kind of house...but...we would be happy here, too!

    Happy New Year Lola!

    Gail

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  28. Dear Beckie, who is planted in the perfect spot,

    Now that is another fantastically beautiful comment! I hear you and isn't it so true. After 34 years...you have many wonderful memories and very deep roots to your home and garden!

    No wonder our parents have such a difficult time moving to retirement communities or smaller apartments....it must feel like a huge loss to some of them.

    Happiest of New Years to you.

    Gail

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  29. Gail, what a delightful post - and an interesting question - one which I shall have to ponder upon!
    K.
    xx

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  30. I feel like I have shallow roots here. I have never wanted to live in the place we have now lived in for 14 years. I wanted to move to the country...a long dreary story but since I live here...I garden, I must.

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  31. Lisa,

    You have made the best of it! Really! I won't ask you to recount the story but acknowledge that...
    it's hard to be were you don't want to be. I was there for many years...here in fact. We made some important big changes to the house that helped me embrace this place! But when it rains (lots in winter) I have to remind myself that the crawlspace isn't flooding and everything is all right!

    Maybe your dream of living in the country will happen...dreams to come true!

    Happiest of New Years!

    Gail

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  32. Karen,

    I can't wait to read your comment when you have pondered on it a while...do come back!

    Gail

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  33. Dear Gail....how I love to see the photographs of the bees and butterflies......

    My garden was a sad plot when I arrived.....bare and neglected......eight years of toil, and planting......nurturing, caring, feeling the soil in my hands......am I tap rooted.......the garden has my soul, I am most definately tap rooted.......

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  34. As I proved in my recent move, I'm pretty transplantable. But I am taprooted to gardening, and I'd have to have a garden no matter where I lived.

    Great post, Gail.

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  35. What a beautiful and lyric post! I am too taprooted. I wish I could summon the courage to move to a bigger house with enough room for all of us, but I'm just too tied to this place. That might all change if the CN railway deal ruins everything I love here. Then I don't know where we'd go, as I love the open spaces around here, the prairies & savannas.

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  36. What delightful photos Gail, and such an interesting and challenging question. I would have to say that my roots are deep here because of history. I live just ten houses down the street from my parents. This is the neighborhood I grew up in and I love it. Our home is one my sister used to play in with friends, and I walked past every day on my way to school.

    The yard is a challenge because of steep slopes and poor soil. For almost thirty years no one has ever tried to make it beautiful. I am determined to change that. This yard has good bones (native rock walls!) and plenty of interest in terms of elevation changes and terracing.

    Hmm...now you've got me thinking about a post for my blog! LOL!

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  37. Hi Gail,

    Tap rooted! Oh… this was a tough one. I had to start to look up the word and the dictionary!

    ‘ Large main root: a long tapering root that extends downwards below the stem of some plants and has fine lateral roots. It often serves as a food storage organ, e.g. in the carrot.’

    I’m deeply tap rooted to this island I live on, my family has been here since I was one years old. I feel I’m one with my garden and the nature that surround my ‘plot’ on this earth. I do enjoy traveling but…loves to come home.
    I’m tap rooted to this garden because it has my favourite fragrant a mixture of sea, wood, greenery, soil etc.
    I’m tap rooted to my garden because it gives me; food, pleasure, harmony, fresh air, exercise....Love Tyra

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  38. Hello again :) I just did a post on my blog, with a link to your original post. Thanks so much for this, it was fun to think about, and even more fun to write about!

    Amy

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  39. Lovely, thought-provoking post Gail.

    It's been a different experience moving into my husband's home. I've owned several homes as an adult, and this is the first one I had no role in choosing. I'd love for us to choose a home together.

    He's taprooted here though, and I'm taprooted to him, and that's what keeps me here.

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  40. Cheryl,

    I love the bees and butterflies, too! I miss them this time of year! Cheryl...I can clearly see how you would be taprooted to your land, your garden, the place that has kept you healing and thriving.

    Gail

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  41. Pam,

    Transplantable yes, but those plants that anchor you are transplants, too! Like you, I have to garden, my fingers itch to garden...this is as far north as I want to go into winters!

    Gail

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  42. MMD,

    Oh this news about the railroad ...have I missed it somehow! Tell us more?

    It would be hard to leave a place one is so rooted to, those moves take a while to work up to...Slowly prying ourselves out of the ground, little bits at a time; years of prep work...and it's most necessary to find a good place to settle in first!

    Is there anyway to grow the house?

    Gail

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  43. Linda garden girl,

    Beautiful Linda! I would choose my husband, too! We taproot each other and that is a wonderful feeling.

    Chez cedar was not my dream house but I have made major changes to help it be a better fit....I bet you have, too.

    Gail

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  44. Tyra,

    Excellent reasons to be taprooted to your beautiful garden...food, beauty, fragrance, a tie to family...your roots are deep in your garden!

    I am glad you found a good definition...it was a good one, too!

    Gail

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  45. AmyBlossom,

    How exciting that you have a post on this! I love that...and your desire to improve and make the land you know so well, have lived nearby and now is your own ~~beautiful. I will be over to see the post...right now!

    Gail

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  46. Another great post, Gail!
    I'm of the "transplantable" persuasion also. One day I'd love to be taprooted in a place I truly love. Right now I just try to surround myself with as much natural beauty as possible to hide the undesirable aspects of living right next to the neighborhood playground and messy neighbors.

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  47. I'm not sure what taproots me to my garden. It's mostly just the fun of seeing things grow and change over time. Maybe I haven't been here quite long enough for my roots to grow deep.

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  48. You really create such thought provoking posts Gail! It's wonderful to feel so connected to the land you live & grow on. I guess for me I am taprooted to the memories of my boys growing up in this house and the gardens that I've created over the past 11 1/2 years since we moved in.

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  49. This is simply a beautiful post, both your thoughts and photos!
    I grew Tennessee coneflower last year from seed and it had 2 flowers....I can't wait to see it with lots of blooms like yours...it is sooooo cool looking.

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  50. Connie,

    That is marvelous that you grew it from seed! It is a special plant and I love it...while I have a large planting...that shot is from the cedar glade! I meant to label it! You can get plenty of blooms by giving it sun, lean soil and no fertilizer! Good luck!

    Thank you ...I am glad you liked the post~

    Gail

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  51. Racquel,

    Thank you...taprooted is how I feel about the kind of plantings I have here, the garden philosophy and my deeply rooted connection to them ...I wondered if other folks felt similar. Family and love are wonderful taproots to a home or garden. ..11and 1/2 years is along commitment to a garden...I would think you are well rooted.

    Gail

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  52. Dave,


    It could be time...I have been here 23 years! It has been an evolution to arrive at Clay and Limestone! You are also raising two small children...your family is your focus and being there for them is your taproot.

    Gail

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  53. Robin,

    I do think you are in good transplantable company! I suspect you would make a lovely garden where ever you live. You would grow food and feed your family, plant for the creatures, feed the birds and photograph what you see.

    I am all for privacy fences and plantings to block out the undesirable elements...what ever it takes to bring peace to a garden! We have a 10 foot deep hedge of forsythia across the front boundary to block out street noise and give us privacy!

    Gail

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  54. Hi Gail,
    You ask a thought provoking question that I had to think about a bit, but then it came to me: we are tap rooted to this house and ground. Not just because it was our very first 'serious' garden together, but also because it's where we ended up settling down. Tap rooted to the house and ground, not to mention the mortgage!

    We cemented our little family here, and though two are now gone, they too are tap rooted to the place they loved. We'll be here a long time, I hope....

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  55. Another beautiful post, Gail. Both the idea and the images. A gardener's attachment to his or her garden is profound; in fact I feel a bit sorry for those who don't know that kind of joy!

    I love the little iron fishes in the dry stream. The swatches of Rudbeckia --with the coneflowers for contrast -- are GORGEOUS. I love the Rusty Blackhaw too. The caterpillar picture looks like it belongs in a National Geographic. And.... :)

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  56. Tap rooted is a very connected thing to be. Sure makes you pretty and strong.

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  57. Hello dear Gail of Clay and Limestone,
    I SO could feel exactly what you expressed as you wandered through your garden. I absolutely love and appreciate the way your garden freely flows with wildflowers and unsculptured beds full with adoring critters. Taprooted. A word so aptly spoken. I LOVE it.

    You have identified for me the sense I have when out in my garden. I've spent 24 years cultivating almost every nook and cranny of Hoe & Shovel. I'm taprooted right along side the sturdy live oak stands in the front and side garden that were here way before any man. But the back gardens were built from the ground up by my well-worn hands. It is my favorite place to be in the whole wide world. :-)Being in the garden is truly my "centering place". Taprooted. Someone will have to do lots of digging to ever move me from this piece of earth.

    Thanks for your beautifully poignant thoughts. I think I've been in one of your counseling sessions today and I'm feeling quite restful. Blessings for a beautiful day, my friend.
    Meems

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  58. Hi Gail, I'm taprooted by the new house we built and that took 4 years to get complete. Living here for the first 10 years forced me to garden and landscape around "the planned spot". Lovely post.

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  59. I know what roots me to my home in Virginia--all the plants that survived the hurricane, the woods we've come to love, Ranunculus the homebody, our wonderful friends. But we're pulled toward Arizona, too, where my family roots are. We'll have to see what's ahead for Salix and me--maybe an almost bi-coastal lifestyle?

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  60. My roots are here because camels don't like to be relocated...neither do teenagers, lol!

    Great thought provoking post, Kim

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  61. Kim,

    It's hard to get those camels and teens to move! Thanks...I really wanted to know how people are rooted to their gardens. Happy New Year to you, the teens and the camels and of course all the little ones and the spouse! gail

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  62. Cosmo,

    You could be bifurcated and taprooted to both places! Why not? They would offer you a wonderful place to be at all times of the year!

    Gail

    Gail

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  63. Dawn,

    That must have been quite something..."that area over there is the new house!"! I bet it all came together very nicely!

    Gail

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  64. Anna/flowergardengirl,

    Some of my favorite flowers are taprooted...Moneyplant, TN Coneflower and Columbines...and one of my favorite weeds...Verbascum thapsus. Love them even tho they are bad boys! What are yours?

    Happy New Year..you take care.

    Gail

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  65. IVG,

    Those are strong and lovely taproots IVG! You and Fernymoss have created a good life, a lovely home and a delightful garden. Pepa and Rolly who were much loved and loved you back were a big part of it all!

    Happiest of New Years to you both.

    Gail

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  66. Meems,

    Reading the comments to this post has been a joy. Yours is wonderful and speaks so beautifully to the rootedness we feel, a connection that goes beyond the garden and into the very land and trees. You can tell how deeply you are connected to your garden...in every post. I am smiling as I imagine anyone attempting to pry your taprooted soul from your garden!

    Now you have me wondering~~ Did you pick your house because of the house or did the land speak to you?

    Gail

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  67. Sweetbay,

    Those of us who are taprooted might have trouble understanding how anyone couldn't find some little piece of garden to love! It used to puzzle me that my husband didn't want to work in the garden and never got how good it felt! But he has other great qualities and is rooted to me, our son and our life.

    The little fishies are cute aren't they! I found them at a garage sale and the sailed in to my garden and made themselves at home!

    Happy New Year Sweetbay!

    Gail

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  68. I'm a nut for garden accents and really love your fish in Benign neglect. Nice post.

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  69. Great question, counselor. There were other houses that fit the checklist when we were looking to buy. But this piece of property and surrounding area was what called out to me. Even though we are in a neighborhood it is an extremely private setting. The heavily treed lot was a must and we had not found too many available within the area we were looking at the time. The acreage behind us was wooded so my kids had free reign to explore. Likewise plenty of adventures were had in those woods over the years.
    Meems

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  70. Helen,

    They are very nice and don't mind being left to their own care in the Garden of Benign Neglect!

    Thank you...glad you likd it!

    Gail

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  71. Hi Gail, I so enjoyed reading this post (and variety of comments), and am Happy that you are Taprooted! Yea!
    I feel a little reflection coming: Our lives are as varied and individual as the people themselves. As is each plant in our gardens. Some of us never ever have taproots, but are firmly entrenched (at least for "a season") where we're planted.

    I'm in one of those "grow where you're planted" phases (by choice!). I LOVE where I am, for "a season," but anticipate moving before too many years for a variety of reasons.

    I love the variety and diversity and the establishment of garden areas, so I don't think I'll ever be disappointed should a move happen.

    In the meantime, I may not be taprooted, but I'm deeply rooted with strong attachment! ;-)

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  72. Shady,

    I hear you...Your roots are lateral roots and strong! I do think that were I to have to move...I could reestablish myself...but I do need always to have a garden! It's funny that you spoke of moving...we were having this conversation earlier. What would move us? I could move to a loft that had a roof garden or terrace for me to putter around! It would have to be an adventure in new and different housing to get me out of here!

    Have a wonderful New Year.

    Gail

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  73. Gorgeous photos and lovely thoughts, Gail! And a thoughtful question, hmm... the response that comes immediately to mind is the role my garden plays in nurturing, in a small way, the birds, insects, and other creatures that live here. Although a suburban garden has a limited role in the ecosystem, the cumulative effect of many such gardens can help support life... and watching the birds play and bathe in my little waterfall, and feed on the bugs and flowers, is deeply gratifying to me.

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  74. My roots here go really deep. It's not just the stone walls and paths that Ed has so beautifully built, but all the plants from friends and the memories that are planted here with them. I may have to move from here someday, but I will go kicking and screaming like a Mandrake in Harry Potter. My roots here are deep indeed!

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  75. Great post and comments! Though I've averaged a move each year for the past decade (no wonder I never want to move again!), I feel taprooted into gardening through my family tree. My grandmother spent her life gardening and passed the passion on to my father. In turn, I learned to love gardening at his side. The three of us have a great time conversing about garden plans and inspiration. We swap gardening magazines & plant starts and give each other private tours to see what's blooming. Regards, VW

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  76. Hi Gail!
    I love all the flowers you grow...the coneflowers,and all the trees that dance in the sun. It gives your garden such a sense of place, one filled with delight.
    Warm regards and wishes for a very happy new year to you and yours filled with blooms!
    :)
    Philip

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  77. Gail, your therapist skills show once again, as your perfect word unlocks the minds and hearts of your readers.

    Taprooted is what my mother and sisters and some of my friends are...something I admire but don't experience.

    Instead of making taproots, I think Frances and I have been root-pruned a few times - something that's done to force certain kinds of trees or shrubs to make lots of new feeder roots near the trunk so they can be lifted to a new location, hopefully to bloom and grow there. I wonder whether our offspring will be like us, or if they'll be like you, sending down taproots?

    We might not be rooted in a certain place, but we are definitely rooted into gardening!

    Annie at the Transplantable Rose

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  78. To Annie, root pruned is right when we were moved to Texas, like you, I was not happy about it and determined to not stay there. Grandbabies made me put my foot down to come back, although we didn't get all the way back to our point of origin. I do still dream of that other TN garden, and do know there is one more move in my future. This time I will go willingly. :-) And to Gail, since we speak so often, I don't think of your therapist talents but realize how this post was a portal to people's souls. May you have a most wonderful 2009, my friend.
    Frances

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  79. Gail, I've read your blog for quite a while now. You've provided some unique info which I cherish. You have a lovely garden that's growing & I shall be happy to watch it grow.
    I wish for you a HAPPY & PROSPEROUS NEW YEAR.

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  80. Gail, I've avoided mentioning the CN rail purchase because I was hoping it would all go away. It will essentially ruin my community by putting 20 freight trains a day on a rail line that had seen only 3 or 4 a day. The line crosses 3 major roads in the downtown and would stop traffic at all of them at the same time for each train, resulting in gridlock. It also has the potential to imperil human life, as the nearest hospital is on the other side of those tracks. Mostly, I'd rather just not think about it.

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  81. Gail, I really love your blog! I love your outlook on the plant world and I have learned so much this year reading all your wonderful posts....I think you may know I wish to become a Master Naturalist, and hope to learn a LOT about native plants in the coming year. You are an inspiration!

    Marie

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  82. "The dry creek in the Garden of Benign Neglect" I think I have one of those too.

    lets make it simple for now... I am taprooted by the beauty.

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  83. Your post is inspiring me to create one of my own, to answer your question... Stay tuned!

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"Insects are the little things that run the world." Dr. E O Wilson