BY VALERIE EASTON
The Cambridge Illustrated Glossary of Botanical Terms
by Michael Hickey and Clive King Cambridge University Press; 208 pages paperback; $29.95

Seed-starting equipment has come a long way since the days of egg cartons and cutdown milk containers . . .

These stems provide color and luster, all year

How to harmonize the garden with your home’s color.

These antique cultivars and species offer durability, charm, and grace.

Near frost-free San Diego, a couple shares their tropical dream

New flowers and vegetables introduced in 2002

When a plant like outgrows its pot, the roots get crowded and can’t convey sufficient nutrients and moisture to the foliage. Here’s how to improve its situation.

THERE IS NOTHING like the fantasy of full-blown, flowery gardens in the middle of winter to reassure us that the earth is again spinning toward springtime. What else but a flower show offers daffodils blooming beneath spires of June-flowering delphiniums or the luxury of inhaling lily perfume five months early?

MY MOTHER’S ANNUAL New Year’s Day count usually records some 60 plants in flower in her Northern California garden. … Perhaps the most spectacular are the expansive drifts of paperwhite narcissus (N. papyraceus) spread out on the sloping hillside below the house.

BY EARLY JANUARY, several freezes usually have singed lawns and prairies around Austin to various shades of straw.