Jane Pepper's Garden: Getting the Most Pleasure and Growing Results from Your Garden Every Month of the Year

Gardeners who are too busy to sift through horticultural tomes will happily graze on the time-released information in this month-by-month guide. Beginning with March, each chapter opens with a jumble of tips for early- and late-month activities, then treats in depth a mix of timely topics. ""July"" tells how to prepare the garden for summer vacations; ""September"" suggests pansies ""with dear little nodding heads,"" instead of those ""floppy"" ornamental kales. ""December"" praises hollies, Christmas-tree mulch and easy-to-grow orchids. Along with quick facts and common sense advice, Pepper's unapologetic opinions (ban the blue spruce, green thumbs-up for broccoli and lima beans) make this a beginners-friendly discourse. Garden columnist for the Philadelphia Inquirer, the author culls ideas from experts and from her own background on general practices (pruning, propagation, cold frames) as well as on planting (hydrangeas for summer bloom, seven recommended house ferns). Zone variations are not included, so gardeners outside the mid-Atlantic region will have to set their schedules ahead or behind Pepper's mid-Atlantic time. A light, entertaining reference for easy-in, easy-out reading. (May)