GIVE SOMETHING THAT GARDENERS WILL PORE OVER.

Byline: Marilee Reyes Staff Writer

The only thing better for a gardener than his or her own garden is a beautiful book about gardens. So consider these great books for that person on your shopping list who reveres plants, whether they be flowers, fruits or vegetables.

This must be the year for tulips, and perhaps the most beautiful book this season on anything botanical is ``Tulipa: A Photographer's Botanical'' (Artisan; $65). Photographer Christopher Baker and international tulip expert Willem Lemmers joined talent and knowledge in this sumptuous and big, big book. Each photograph, reminiscent of 17th- and 18th-century botanicals, is a work of art. You'll be hard pressed not to tear out the photographs and frame them for wall hangings.

``Window Boxes, Indoors and Out'' (Artisan; $25), by James Cramer and Dean Johnson, has been out for almost a year, but it's still a great gift book for a person who wants to try small-scale gardening. Planters have particular soil and watering requirements, which are discussed in detail.

``The New Traditional Garden,'' by Michael Weishan, (Ballantine Publishing Group; $35) is a practical guide to creating or restoring authentic American gardens for all eras and scales of grandeur or simplicity.

With the increased interest in heirloom garden designs and plants, Weishan's book arrives at a perfect time. It's formulated in true textbook style and covers everything from the history of American gardens to plants, soil preparation, layout, garden architecture and includes about as extensive a list of suppliers as one will find anywhere.

Weishan has illustrated the book with black-and-white period engravings, garden designs and plant illustrations, which probably makes the book more accurate in mood than one with lush color photos. Still ... buy it for the knowledge therein ... not for the pictures.

Aha! A book on roses that actually recognizes California gardens: ``Beautiful American Rose Gardens'' (Clarkson Potter Publishers; $40). Usually these books focus on East Coast or Southern gardens, but the author, Mary Tonetti Dorra, lives in Santa Barbara and therefore is familiar with our rose conditions. She even extols their virtues in a whole chapter titled ``Sun Blessed Gardens of California.'' The exquisite photography of Richard Felber captures both individual roses and the bounty of a garden overflowing with ramblers, climbers and beds of roses with equal attention.