AREA GARDENERS GLEAN HINTS FROM NEW BOOKS

Some gardeners have set out plants that they grew from seeds; others are thinking about getting started. There's lots of help at the Jackson Public Library.

Of course, we're aware that working hours are better when we're in the company of compatible people, but few suspect that plants react in the same manner.

Read "Carrots Love Tomatoes" by Louise Riotte. Carrots love chives, too; flavor and size are improved. Do not plant shallots, nor onions nor garlic, near peas or beans. Onions do well with members of the cabbage family.

Some plants, always regarded as weeds, loosen soil and bring up nutrients that benefit other plants. Stinging nettle makes neighboring plants more insect-resistant, helps resist lice, slugs and snails, gives greater aromatic quality to herbs, and protects fruit from mold.

Lemon balm, Sweet Cicily and Angelica, when used in baking tart fruit pies, can reduce the amount of sugar to be used. Some information is scary: Wild mustard seed can lie in the ground, inert for 50 to 60 years, then sprout when the field is planted to grain.

A bit about popular St. John's Wort: If collected on St. John's Wort Night, June 24, it will protect against witches and evil spirits. Very enjoyable and informative.

In "Easy Gardening," Pat Stoner lists dozens of common mistakes and hundreds of ways to correct them. Then, lest the gardener be overwhelmed, he tells ways to do them all simply and easily. He gives both sides of the argument of cultivating versus mulching, and talks about fertilizing and watering. He emphasizes preventing weeds.

Anna Pavord has written "The New Kitchen Garden," promoting the idea that vegetable gardens need not be humdrum. Lavishly illustrated, this book shows the beauty of surrounding a potato patch with roses, adding cornflowers to vegetable beds and using varieties of lettuce as foliage plants with marigolds and zinnias. Identification of some of the rather exotic is helpful, as are recommendations as to which will grow best where.

There is advice on everything from asparagus to zucchini, with beautiful color illustrations to help the gardener create a showplace that is full of good food.

It is possible to have a great garden and lots of cut flowers in the house, even if there isn't a lot of time. "The American Weekend Gardener" by Patricia Thorpe, covers all kinds of soil and terrain, picturing the wonderful results that can reward careful selection of plants and wise use of time.

Beautiful houses become even more beautiful homes when surrounded by the proper plantings.

"Landscaping: A Five-year Plan" by Theodore James Jr. is a gold mine of information on what to avoid, what to choose, and how to care for it. The advice is practical, and there is enough photography to demonstrate that patience will be amply rewarded.