The best plants in life are free

One of my earliest memories of childhood - I couldn't have been more than 3 years old - is of a plant called Job's tears (Coix lacryma-jobi).

Although I remember it as a shrub (it was certainly taller than I), it's an ancient grass grown in many parts of the world.

The neighbor in whose yard the ornamental grass was growing showed me how the grayish tear-shaped seeds could be pierced by a needle and threaded together to make a necklace.

That string of beads became one of my proudest possessions; I wanted to wear it everywhere. And the feeling of wonder at my introduction to the natural world has stayed with me since.

Maybe that early experience nudged me in the direction of becoming involved with gardening when I grew up.

As an adult, I discovered that most gardening enthusiasts were sharing, caring people. If I asked a question about a plant, a gardener would not only give me an answer, but probably get out a pair of pruners, take a cutting from that plant, and give it to me.

Gradually, my yard became home to what I think of as Sanford's forsythia, Dad's rose, Betty's periwinkle, and Janet's irises, among many others.

A new award-winning hybrid may have much going for it. Certainly, I get as excited as anyone when the new seed catalogs begin arriving at the end of the year.

But in common with Ralph Sowell (see story at right) and other recipients of pass-alongs, my favorite plants - the ones I carefully dig up and transplant into a new yard whenever we move - are the ones I own because of a friend's or neighbor's generosity.

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