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Passalong Plants by Steve Bender (1993-11-30) Hardcover

by Steve Bender (Author)
4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 177 ratings
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Passalongs are plants that have survived in gardens for decades by being handed from one person to another. These botanical heirlooms, such as flowering almond, blackberry lily, and night-blooming cereus, usually can't be found in neighborhood garden centers; about the only way to obtain a passalong plant is to beg a cutting from the fortunate gardener who has one. In this lively and sometimes irreverent book (don't miss the chapter on yard art), Steve Bender and Felder Rushing describe 117 such plants, giving particulars on hardiness, size, uses in the garden, and horticultural requirements. They present this information in the informal, chatty, and sometimes humorous manner that your next-door neighbor might use when giving you a cutting of her treasured Confederate rose. And, of course, because they are discussing passalong plants, they note the best method of sharing each plant with other gardeners.Because you might not spy a banana shrub or sweet pea in your neighborhood, the authors list mail-order sources for the heirloom plants described. They also give tips on how to organize your own plant swap. Although the authors live in and write about the South, many of the plants they discuss will grow elsewhere. from the book Amid the clamor of press releases touting the newest, improved versions of this bulb or that perennial, what keeps people interested in old-fashioned plants? Nostalgia, for one thing. It's hard not to feel a special fondness for that Confederate rose, night-blooming cereus, or alstroemeria lovingly tended by your grandmother when you were a child. Such heirloom plants evoke memories of your first garden, of relatives and neighbors that have since passed on, of prized bushes you accidentally annihilated with your bicycle. Recall the time you first received a particular plant, and you'll recall the person who gave it to you.
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    The University of North Carolina Press
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Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ B01FGL6XIU
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.7 4.7 out of 5 stars 177 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.7 out of 5 stars
4.7 out of 5
177 global ratings
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5 Stars
Love this book!
A wonderful book that identifies many of the flowers on "the old home place" so prevalent here in the Deep South. The humorous asides and tongue in cheek anecdotes make it a joy to read even for those bored to tears by the usual reference books. This is my second copy after losing the first copy in the divorce LOL. I even ordered a copy for my cousin who just moved into her new 135 yr old home.
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Top reviews from the United States

laine
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book of classic Southern plants
Reviewed in the United States on June 28, 2020
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This is a wonderful, nostalgic book for any Southern gardener. Many of these plants were things I loved as a child and had forgotten or had not known the names of, and it has been so much fun to read and learn about them. I am planning out a garden, and I am deeply grateful that I read this book first.

The conversational style of the prose is very enjoyable and reveals every plant as a treasure. The margins are large, allowing for note-taking and sketches. There are not pictures for every plant, but it was kind of fun to google as I went along and draw pictures of anything that didn’t have a photo and was worth remembering. Overall, an excellent book.

Caveat: some of the more “vigorous” plants are actually invasive in some states, and this is not always clearly indicated. Be sure to research before you plant.
3 people found this helpful
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K. Hardee
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book for Southern gardeners
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2011
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This book is taking its place among my top 10 gardening books of all time. A wonderful read filled with down-home Southern humor, it tells the stories of over 100 plants that Southerners have loved and passed along for generations. This is not a how-to-grow it book, it is more of a why-to-grow-it book, although there are growing tips scattered throughout; this plant likes some afternoon shade, this one fertile soil, etc. As for the plants themselves, I have been gardening in the South for 35 years so I was familiar with most of the plants, but there were a few I had never even heard of and quite a few I now intend to add to my garden. That, of course, is the danger of this book; after reading it you'll want almost every plant in it! I have already ordered and planted the Kwanso daylilies and I intend to find and order the Golden Glow soon. Steve Bender and Felder Rushing are both excellent garden writers, but I must admit that I thought Bender had a much more natural sense of humor than Rushing. Several times during my reading my husband came to see what I was laughing about, and it was always one of Steve Bender's stories. How can you not love an entry called Stuck on the Needles of Your Love, Bender's hilarious story about his experience pruning a trifoliate orange. If you are a Northern or Western gardener, this book would still be funny and some of the plants would grow in your area, but it is of most value to those of us living and gardening in the South. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the South, its people, and its plants.
4 people found this helpful
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FLLjeff
5.0 out of 5 stars Fun book :-)
Reviewed in the United States on May 19, 2020
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The authors have a knack for imparting information with wit. Lots of personal insight into the culture of gardening in the southern USA. Although I grew up with quite a lot of the garden subjects that are covered here, the authors' anecdotes from their own families' experiences and those of neighbors and friends, gives a good down-home feel to the book, and takes me back to similar childhood experiences. The overall tone is like talking to your gardening buddy or an old family friend. Very enjoyable! And a lot of obscure historical and botanical information about our heirloom garden plants!
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momwithoozy
5.0 out of 5 stars Funny and informative
Reviewed in the United States on April 17, 2022
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Typical of the two authors, the text will tickle your funny bone while teaching you about yet one more plant. I couldn't put it down. When I did, I had a list of plants to look for.
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OldRoses
5.0 out of 5 stars Passalong Plants
Reviewed in the United States on October 15, 2009
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I was tempted to buy this book years ago when I became interested in heirlooms. The fact that it was about "southern" passalongs discouraged me from doing so. New Jersey is one growing zone north of what is considered "southern". There are classic southern plants that can be grown here in sheltered locations but all it takes is a colder than normal winter and those delicate immigrants succumb.

Thanks to global warming, my zone 6 garden is now closer to zone 7, the northern-most "southern" growing zone. Colder than normal winter temperatures are rare now. I am more open to the idea of growing plants that are considered borderline in zone 6. I got out a pad and pen, ready to take notes as I dove into a whole new world of plants via "Passalong Plants".

The authors, Steve Bender and Felder Rushing, have chosen to tell a story about each plant rather than just describing it. Southern gardeners and their gardens come alive through their anecdotes. The reader comes away from the book with much better "pictures" of these old-time favorites than any photograph (which are supplied in abundance throughout the text).

The essays can be read in any order. They are helpfully arranged according to the characteristics of the plants so that, for instance, if you are looking for fragrant plants, there is a section on those alone. There are also groupings of essays on plants that are aggressive spreaders, the most common "passalongs", plants with strange characteristics (such as "naked ladies" and walking iris), plants with garish colored flowers and bare root shrub passalongs that are commonly sold in nurseries.

By far my favorite section was on yard art. I don't "get" bottle trees but plastic animals, painted rocks and especially tire planters took me back in time to my childhood in largely rural upstate New York. The book ends with a chapter devoted to organizing plant swaps for your own passalongs.

I finished the book and realized that my pad was empty. I had been too caught up in the stories to stop and take notes. It's on my bookshelf now, waiting for winter when I am making decisions about what to plant next year. I will page through it again in my constant quest to plant something new.
11 people found this helpful
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UltraB
4.0 out of 5 stars I love the concept of this book
Reviewed in the United States on January 5, 2018
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I love the concept of this book. It details so many plants I remember from my grandmothers' and great-grandmother's yards as a kid. I've been trying to add some of those old Southern plants to my 21st century, boring, suburban yard. Sadly, I cannot give it 5 stars because it is very sparsely illustrated. Some plants have no pictures. Some have pictures on pages following or preceding their discussion. And the pictures that are present are tiny little square photos that don't do the plants justice. I love the authors and have other books by each. I wish this one was up to the standard of those other efforts.
3 people found this helpful
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