Garden Talk: Ask Me Anything
Guest, author of the syndicated Garden Talk and peddler of  garden products, has culled from her weekly column the  frequently asked questions and elaborated on her responses to  create this catchall, which though offering snatches of  fulfilling glimpses into the garden, falls far short of its  boastful wish to be "the ultimate basic garden book." Guest  divides the book into five "seasons" (added to the usual  suspects is "holidays" all of them Christian), within which  topics are arranged alphabetically ("winter" rambles from "Aloe  Vera" through "Yeast"). Its overly broad scope and convoluted  organization (mysteriously, a paragraph on "Frostbite" is tucked  into "holidays) belie its promise that this is an "easy to  follow" book. Finally, the numerous odd leaps in horticultural  logic buoyed by the book's cheery you-can-do-it-all attitude may  frustrate the novice gardener, to whom this book is targeted.  Consider this: "As you can see, roses are rather easy to grow."  Still, as a miscellany of tips and trivia, Guest does offer some  lively, even flavorful anecdotes: insert strychnine into raisins  to get rid of moles; try battering and frying daylilies or  consider a harvest of yummy dandelions; a recipe for  "Grasshopper Puree" may be the cannibalistic antidote for those  plants with telltale signs that they've been nibbled on by these  hungry green creatures. Dig in, by all means, but don't expect  great depth. (Nov.)Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.