IN THE GARDEN LANTANA PROVIDES YEAR-ROUND ADORNMENT.

Byline: JOSHUA SISKIN

Gardeners are always on the lookout for long-blooming floral combinations, especially when it comes to close-up window boxes, terra cotta pots and sidewalk planters on which our gaze is focused throughout the year.

The combination of floral carpet roses and lantana seems to satisfy this urge for constant blooming. I have recently seen several high-visibility areas where red, pink and white carpet roses were combined with lilac and white trailing lantanas. Carpet roses, which go briefly dormant in winter, and trailing lantanas, which bloom virtually throughout the year, give the same gushing, ``cup runneth over'' effect that everyone seems to love.

While it is true that lantanas will outgrow and want to smother the roses eventually, it is a small matter to prune back the lantanas when they start to go out of control. In fact, such pruning will make the lantanas more compact, with a denser bloom, when they regrow.

Although yellow or lemon lantanas do not bloom as long as the lilac and white, they have a trailing growth habit and combine well with lilac lantana and red carpet roses. Another advantage of mixing in some yellow lantana is that the entire planting combination will stand out, glowing from a distance, as a result.

A common mistake in garden design is to take a plant that looks perfectly beautiful close up and assume that this plant will look equally beautiful from a distance.

Consider the case of the Dalmatian bellflower (Campanulapos charskyana), for example. This lavender-blue ground cover is everyone's favorite when it comes to planting something in a small bed, in partial shade, next to the front door steps. But you should not go overboard, or get too ambitious, on this bellflower's account since it simply becomes invisible when planted throughout a large area.

Q: I have tried many times to grow basil plants, both indoors and out, but they always die an untimely death. Can you help me?

- Ann Miles

A: Basil really should be planted outdoors. While it may survive in a pot on the window, it probably will not grow into much of a plant.

Basil should be planted early in the spring to get a jump on insect pests. Beginning in mid-February, you should plant seeds every two weeks through the end of April. That way, regardless of which pests may find your plants, you should have basil to harvest through the fall.

Basil is also cold sensitive and will not survive even a mild Valley winter, so I recommend holding off on planting it until next year.

I received an e-mail wondering whether barbecue ash and burnt briquettes should be added to the compost pile. Charcoal is a wood product but it is highly alkaline. If you lived in Georgia, Maine or Seattle, where the soil pH is low, it might make sense. However, in our part of the country, the charcoal would only serve to raise our soil pH - which is already on the high side - to detrimental levels.

TIP OF THE WEEK: Mary Montes e-mailed her regret that last week's column on California natives neglected to mention where to purchase them. She had three suggestions: Theodore Payne Foundation in Sun Valley, [phone], which is open throughout the year; Soka University in Calabasas, [phone], which has one plant sale in spring and one in fall, this year on Oct. 4; and California Native Plant Society, with an annual plant sale in the fall, this year on Oct. 11-12 at the Sepulveda Garden Center, 16633 Magnolia Blvd., Encino.