by Robert Walch

The goal of many gardeners is to create a garden that will bloom from spring through late autumn. That may sound a bit far-fetched, but in The Ever-Blooming Flower Garden:   A Blueprint for Continuous Color (Storey, $19.95) Lee Schneller suggests a way accomplish that result.

Schneller’s simple formula centers around densely planted areas for maximum impact. She suggests creating a blueprint that utilizes short, medium and tall plants whose various bloom times guarantee color throughout the growing season.

This practical guide offers questionnaires and checklists to help you choose the best plants for your own home situation, and it also contains plenty of growing information and plant maintenance tips. Along with a plant planning chart that doubles as a shopping list, you’ll find an illustrated flower catalogue with over 200 easy-care possibilities that will make your garden the envy of the neighborhood.

Sean Conway’s Cultivating Life (Artisan, $29.95), by Sean Conway and Lee Alan Buttala, focuses on 125 projects that will make backyard living more enjoyable. The author’s ideas will help turn overlooked space into focal points and create multipurpose living spaces for spending quality time with family and friends.

Plenty of photographs plus simple instructions will guide the reader through any project, from creating a sun-print tablecloth to a more complex task such as building a porch swing.

I was particularly impressed with the author’s single-column trellis for climbing plants, the very unusual tabletop rice paddy, and the tip on how to create a gourd lamp.

This is a book that you can browse through and try whatever captures your fancy. If you complete just a few of these projects you’ll easily defray the cost of the book. I’m willing to bet that you’ll discover many things that interest you and, fortunately, none of this is rocket science!