Writer cultivates a midlife interest in gardening.

Byline: Oregon Author by The Register-Guard

NAME: Barbara Ashmun, Portland.

SHE WROTE: `Garden Retreats: Creating an Outdoor Sanctuary' (Chronicle Books, 2000), illustrated throughout with Allan Mandell's color photographs. She describes it as `a lavish gardener's dream book, emotionally evocative yet thoroughly practical.'

Her books are "The Garden Design Primer' (Burford Books, 1993), now in its third printing, which shows you how to `plan your garden with imagination'; `200 Tips for Growing Flowers in the Pacific Northwest' (Chicago Review Press, 1996); `200 Tips for Growing Beautiful Perennials' (Chicago Review Press, 1998); and `200 Tips for Growing Beautiful Roses' (Chicago Review Press, 1998).

WHAT DO YOU DO FOR WORK? `I consult with homeowners to help them design their gardens and teach classes on garden design, perennials, roses, annuals, containers, structures, French gardens, English gardens, mixed borders, garden retreats.

`I am also a contributing editor for Fine Gardening magazine and also write regularly for Better Homes & Gardens, Country Living Gardener and Garden Showcase.'

BACKGROUND: Born in the Bronx, New York, she's not married and has no children, and she has a cat named George.

WHEN DID YOU START TO WRITE? `I have always written (journals, poetry, essays, memoir) and began writing for garden publications in the '70s when I began gardening in earnest.

`For my 50th birthday, I was determined to get an article published in a national garden magazine, and that was the beginning of my career as a garden writer.

`After my first magazine article was published in Fine Gardening, Peter Burford of Burford Books wrote me a letter asking me to write a book on garden design. The following year, `The Garden Design Primer' was published.'

WHAT IS YOUR WRITING PROCESS? WHAT DO YOU DO ABOUT WRITER'S BLOCK? `I write every day, first thing in the day. I've not suffered from writer's block.

`Sometimes I have fears that my writing won't be as good as it was in the past, or I set up impossibly high standards for myself and get stuck. I write about what's happening and get unstuck.

`Sometimes I talk to friends or take a break, and that helps. The garden is my main inspiration, and gardening invariably brings freshness to the writing.'

WHAT'S NEXT? `I'm working on a book about what happens to us when we garden, about all of the gifts that the garden brings us.'

WHAT ARE YOU READING? ` `The Best American Mystery Stories of the Century,' edited by Tony Hillerman, for midwinter entertainment. I love fiction, memoir and detective novels as a way to immerse myself in other worlds.'

CATCH HER AT: `Private Gardens of France,' a slide show and talk at 12:30 p.m. Feb. 22 at the Yard, Garden & Patio Show in the Oregon Convention Center, Portland. Also: `Garden Design Inspirations,' a slide show and talk at noon Feb. 24 at the Home & Garden Show in the Portland Expo Center.

E-MAIL HER AT: barbarablossom@ hevanet.com

Oregon Authors appears regularly on the Books page. Direct comments or suggestions to Assistant Features Editor Paul Denison, who can be reached by phone at 338-2323, or by e-mail at [e-mail].