Gifted Figs

A friend of mine felt sorry for me and sent me home with some fig twigs that were stuck in a pot to root. This gifted pot has 7 twigs that are in the process of sprouting.
The sad plant that I had purchased at a local garden shop more than 5 years ago has been a big disappointment. The first year looked promising with vigorous growth, but every winter it dies back to the ground and for a couple of years did look like it had died. The garden shop and several neighbors had insisted that it was normal and that all I had to do was wait for another year and the fig would grow. One year, the plant then nearly two feet tall did produce a marble sized fig that never did ripen before the whole plant died back to ground level once again.
I also have 4 twigs sitting in a jar of water by the sunny window that is my nursery for the tomato plants.
It is now a race to see which twigs will be able to produce those delicious figs that I love.