My 9-year-old son is very attached to succulents. He gets the most unlikely cuttings from my friend's plants, and gets them to really grow. He now has a whole cactus and succulent collection that he may exhibit at the Orange County Fair this year. There have been some little branches that I've wanted to pull out and pitch, but he always convinces me to leave them alone -- and he's right.

Pam

I have two other boys, ages 5 and 3, as well. They don't pay much attention to the garden. When I come out of the house to find my eldest passing his hands over an iris' petals or looking for butterflies, I start to wonder if gardening is in a person's genetics like so many other things.

Last spring my daughter (5 year old) and I planted some bare root roses. One in particular did not do so well, shriveled and began to die. I decided that there was nothing left to do but put it out of its misery. My daughter was horrified that I would even fathom such an idea. "You wouldnÂt kill me if I were sick!", she proclaimed. Needless to say, we babied the plant, and by fall it took off. There is something to be said for a childÂs persistence.