12/26/04 If you are a gardener wondering what to do with your Christmas cash, consider buying a book.

Whether you are just getting started or already a collector of exotic species, there's surely a book that's just right.

But here's a warning. When scouting gardening books, don't buy according to the pretty pictures. Far too often, garden books have an East Coast or British bias, bearing bodaciously beautiful photos of plants that aren't necessarily suited to our mild, coastal climate.

Instead, read the book sleeves or skim the chapter titles to make sure that whatever you're purchasing is geared to those of us who garden in the West.

The following are among my favorites -- especially because they have a West Coast slant.

Wild Lilies, Irises, and Grasses: Gardening with California Monocots, Nora Harlow and Kirstin Jakob, editors

This specialty book is ideal for native plant enthusiasts or anyone else who's interested in trying natives in their garden. The editors take a straightforward approach, providing general instructions for growing various groups of plants -- lilies, irises, grasses and grasslike plants, orchids, agaves and palms -- and then suggesting particular species that travel especially well from the wild and into cultivated gardens.

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While not a photographic survey, there are enough photos and illustrations to get you excited. A chart at the back tells which plants are best suited to dry sun, moist sun, dry shade or moist shade.

Home Landscaping: California Region, Roger Holmes and Lance Walheim

Half a dozen landscape designers and architects tackle 20 design challenges, such as landscaping a curbside strip and planting a steep slope. For each project, the book presents two clearly illustrated designs.

The remaining pages offer practical tips on installing various garden projects, as well as detailed descriptions of the plants featured in the design challenges.

California Desert Flowers, Sia Morhardt and Emil Morhardt

Okay, you're not likely to find many of these natives of the Mojave or Sonoran deserts of California in Central Coast gardens. But to an armchair plant traveler, it's inspiring to view the beauty of these ephemeral desert beauties.

If you do venture into the wild, be sure to pack this handbook. With more than 350 photos and gardening "keys" to decipher the plants, you're sure to identify just about anything blooming in the rocks, sand or occasional desert wash.

What the "Experts" May Not Tell You About... Growing the Perfect Lawn, Tom Ogren

This paperback may be geared to the whole country. But the author lives in San Luis Obispo, and as with his Allergy-Free Gardening book, he offers a West Coast slant.

Content ranges from selecting the best grass species to mowing techniques to renovating a weed-infested lawn. Ogren covers all the basics, including offering his opinion on whether to swap your mower for a goat. He also suggests 25 trees that grow just fine in lawns, and some 30 ground covers if you want to plant something other than grass.

Landscape Plants for Western Regions, Bob Perry

This encyclopedic hardback may well be the definitive book on drought-tolerant landscaping. Published in 1992, it was one of the first major gardening books to lean heavily on color photographs to illustrate plants. After more than a decade, I still refer to mine regularly.

Perry is a landscape architect and professor at Cal Poly Pomona. As such, he lends his academic prowess to promote plant associations -- groups of plants that grow well together. He also offers design checklists for water use, height, width, flowering season and wildlife value.

California Master Gardener Handbook, Dennis R. Pittenger, Editor

At just over 700 pages, this weighty tome is a key reference to solving just about any problem you might encounter in the garden. Practical advice abounds on everything from soil and fertilizer management to weed science to home vegetable gardening to poisonous plants.

There's even information for the indoor gardener, with chapters on house plants and household and structural pests.

Street Trees Recommended for Southern California, Street Tree Seminar, Inc.

If you know anyone in the market for a tree, please steer them to this spiral-bound book. Nearly 100 trees suited for street side planting are featured in detailed photos of their mature size, flowers, leaves and bark. The same characteristics that make these trees perfect street trees - they're not messy, they don't uproot paving, they attract few or no pests - also make them terrific candidates for your garden.

Suncrest Nurseries, Inc.: A Guide to Ornamental Plants for Coastal California, Nevin Smith

Regrettably, there are no photos, other than the front and back covers. But inside are invaluable hands-on descriptions and cultivation tips for literally hundreds of plants, ranging from the most commonly grown to the very newest cultivars in California nurseries. The emphasis is on California natives and other plants that flourish in Mediterranean climates.

Hillside Landscaping, Sunset Books

Scores of glossy photos of gorgeous gardens provide terrific inspiration for how to plant even the steepest of slopes. And as with all the Sunset guides, there are plenty of how-to details as well, including coping with erosion, building terraces and retaining walls, installing steps and creating a multi-level waterfall.

Sunset Western Garden Book, Sunset Books

Weighing in at 768 pages, 1,171 photos and 1,380 illustrations, this tome is a must-have on any gardener's bookshelf. Now in its 7th edition, the book offers comprehensive plant descriptions along with plant lists, explanations of Sunset's climate zones and answers to plant problems.

The California Gardener's Book of Lists, Catherine Yronwode with Eileen Smith

This handbook is the perfect lazy guide to gardening. You won't find any plant descriptions. Instead, pick a situation, such as "shrubs that bloom for a month or longer," then find a slew of plants that fit the bill.

All of the plants are cross-referenced in the index, so you can go to the nursery with the book, look up a plant name, then discover how that particular plant can solve problems that you might not have even known that you have.

Joan S. Bolton is a local free-lance writer and garden designer. Her In the Garden column appears biweekly. She can be contacted through her Web site: www.santabarbaragardens.com.