GARDENS GOING WACKY; VALLEY GROWERS BAFFLED WARM WEATHER PUTS PLANTS OFF CYCLE.

Byline: Robert Monroe Staff Writer

After a bountiful summer, Mary Berg's tomatoes were reborn in December. And Anne Murphy's roses are blooming into January.

Across the San Fernando Valley and Los Angeles, gardens are behaving wackily, a reflection of this year's unusual winter, featuring heat waves, cold snaps and scarcely any rain. It's all left local gardeners baffled and bemused Monday by out-of-season growth.

``The foliage is still quite lush, which is surprising, but then again - the weather has been kooky,'' said Berg of Tarzana.

She is among the region's backyard warriors who have mixed appreciation with apprehension as they wonder whether the traditional winter rules for pruning and care apply this year.

At Green Thumb Nursery, Cal Wright advises that gardeners should take advantage of the warm weather and give their lawns one last shot of fertilizer. On the other hand, a few especially cold days over the weekend obliterated his impatiens at home.

``After the frost, they're just gone,'' the nurseryman said.

``The plants really don't know which way to go with the strange weather we've been having,'' said Dave Hayton, another Green Thumb nurseryman.

Experts counsel gardeners to keep their yards well watered and to go ahead and prune those rose bushes, even if they have blooms.

Los Angeles recorded only 9.92 inches of rain in 1999, more than five inches less than normal. A La Nina weather pattern means more dryness is likely through this year.

Gardeners also said that warm spells in November and December have delayed blooms of cool-weather plants like camellias and azaleas that normally are forming their first buds by Thanksgiving.

``It was too warm and then too dry,'' said Robin Pokorski, president of the Southern California Garden Club, based at Sepulveda Garden Center in Encino. ``Unless you've been dumping water into them, it's not cool enough.''

Carolyn Arthur of Sperling Nursery in Calabasas said homeowners shouldn't become complacent in a dry winter. ``The problem is exacerbated by the winds we've had, which tend to desiccate foliage,'' she said.

Richard Schulhof, director of Descanso Gardens in La Canada Flintridge, said the sunny weather that has kept roses blooming is ``a nice problem to have.'' But he added that the sparsity of rain this year could create problems.

``The primary thing to be aware of is it's been a dry year. It's been warming up, and plants are drying out,'' Schulhof said.

For Berg, the unusual weather has meant enduring tomatoes, which typically end their run in November. A canyon resident who says her plants are especially susceptible to frost, Berg said she hasn't seen any chilling effects yet except for the presence of pests like grasshoppers, another oddity in early January.

``I worry because I don't know what kind of infestation we're going to get,'' Berg said.

Amid rows of bare-root roses at Green Thumb, Murphy said she worries what a cold snap would do to her 30 bushes.

``The frost would be very detrimental,'' she said.

National Weather Service meteorologist Gary Ryan said this week should bring clear weather with high temperatures in the 60s to 70s and gusty canyon winds. Low temperatures will be in the mid-40s.

CAPTION(S):

4 PHOTOS, BOX

Photo: (1 -- color -- ran P. 1) A camellia blooms in Canoga Park.

(2 -- color -- ran P. 1) Cal Wright, a nurseryman at Green Thumb Nursery, advises gardeners to give their lawns one last shot of fertilizer.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(3 -- color) Kimberly Nejerski replants a camellia into a pot. Camellias, a popular winter plant, require extra care in this dry, warm weather.

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

(4 -- color) Azaleas are in bloom in Canoga Park.

Box: GROWING TIPS