Debbie Gray, a Mt. Vernon resident, admires an aloe plant she grew from a start given to her by a neighbor.

MT. VERNON — A Mt. Vernon woman keeps a garden that signifies those who have passed on.

Debbie Gray said the oldest plant in her memorial garden is an aloe that she got 14 years ago from Bill Pope, a longtime neighbor who died in 2015.

Pope, Gray said, was engaged to her older cousin when she moved to Grant County over 25 years ago. Gray said she said Pope felt like family from the start.

Gray said she has other plants that remind her of other friends who have passed on.

“I just enjoy them because they are alive,” she said. “They are a live being, actually inside of my home — as I am — so I can share my time with them.”

Gray said anything that is alive has energy in it. She said the plants keep their energy alive.

Aloe and cactus plants are succulents — plants that are thickened with fleshy and engorged parts that retain water in arid climates or soil conditions.

Gray said that succulents do not take a lot of water and are easy to take care of.

“They don’t need any more than a couple of weeks of water,” she said. “They have an ability to absorb moisture and hold it.”

Gray is proud of the aloe vera plant she got from her friend Bill Pope. The plant has bloomed, and now she wants to share it.

“I want to share this with anybody who might be interested,” she said, “because it is really very neat.”