SECRETS FOR BEGINNERS -- DELIGHTS FOR THE REST OF US

The book's 13 chapters cover most aspects of gardening, starting with the basics of soil care and making compost and rolling on to propagation, vegetables, herbs, berries, annuals and biennial flowers, perennials, easy roses, shrubs and trees, and gardens for butterflies and hummingbirds.

That there are separate chapters for cool-season and warm-season vegetables is a prime signal that the book has in mind the real gardener's practical needs. The division is a special boon for beginner gardeners who may not know which vegetables grow best only in the cool of spring and autumn, and which develop over a longer season or only during the warmest months.

In both chapters there is an encyclopedia of vegetables with notes on their cultivation, harvest and use, and recommended varieties. Side bars and charts deliver at-a-glance guides to such issues as seed storage life, companion planting, liming, and frost protection. There are variety lists of vegetables that bring ornamental color to the garden, and a list of common pests and diseases with organic controls.

A third vegetable chapter titled Longer Seasons and Higher Yields is a compendium of practical aids such as plans for a cane trellis support for saving space while growing tomatoes, and an illustrated guide to succession planting and intercropping. A two-page chart details The Edible Container Garden with specific varieties and complete growing tips including suggested container size.

At Home With Herbs offers an encyclopedia of herbs as well as plant lists and sketched plans for flowering, scented, and kitchen herb gardens. A segment on preserving herbs includes a method for drying herbs in a frost-free fridge, where the "dry and cold air effectively dries herbs quickly with a minimal loss of flavor."

A gallery of 15 popular annuals and six biennials, a detailed indoor seeding guide with recipes for seeding and growing mixes, a critical assessment of choices in containers for growing transplants, tips for harvesting seeds to plant the following year, and a child's garden of annuals are key features of Easy and Beautiful Annuals and Perennials.

Though The Big Book of Gardening Secrets is an excellent beginner's primer to the basics of growing edibles and ornamentals, it also offers unusual tips and meticulously detailed scientific information that will educate and surprise many an experienced gardener.

A Garden Secret tip in the chapter on warm season vegetables suggests brushing your hand lightly over the tops of tomato seedlings twice a day to promote the plants' production of cytokinin, a hormone that induces thickening and strengthening of the stems, and avoidance of that typical lean, wan look in tomato transplants.