YOUR PLACE WORDS THAT WILL GROW ON YOU.

Byline: Barbara De Witt 

Gardening is not just about digging in the ground, pruning roses or picking fresh produce. It's an act of love - of nature and its bounty.

While you're holding that thought, think about all the placards and signs on the subject in local nurseries and gift shops. In addition to the ``Mom's Garden'' variety you'll find some rather sentimental signs for green-thumb friends, including a rustic resin sign that proclaims ``Sow seeds of love and Friendship will Grow,'' available at HomeGoods stores.

For more gardening prose, check out the latest books on the subject that, well, truly aren't your usual garden variety.

``Dogwood & Catnip: Living Tributes to Pets We Have Loved and Lost'' (Fairview Press; $14.95) was written by avid gardener and professional grief counselor Marsha Olson, with complete details on how to plant a memorial garden for a beloved pet. She even includes lists of symbolic plants, such as alyssum, which means ``worth beyond beauty,'' mums for ``love and truth,'' and white clover, which means ``think of me.''

Pet lovers also will appreciate the late Beverley Nichol's ``Cats' A.B.C.'' book (Timber Press; $19.95), in which he tells us that cats are keen gardeners and then proceeds to recall their misadventures in flower beds and beyond.

Before you get too teary-eyed, take a gander at Thomas Leo Ogren's ``Safe Sex in the Garden'' (Ten Speed Press; $14.95), which explains that most of us are sneezing and wheezing because back in the '50s landscapers only used single-sex, male-only trees and shrubs because they didn't litter the ground with seeds or pods. However, he explains, without female plants to absorb the pollen, it heads straight for our noses. The book also includes a long list of traditional plants that cause allergic skin rashes, from calla lilies to radishes, that families with pets and small children will find helpful.

Other nontraditional gardening books just hitting the shelves include Sally Roth's ``The Gardener's Weather Bible'' (Rosdale Books; $21.95), a guide for those obsessed with weather such as rainfall patterns and summer drought. Roth tells readers to study sunsets - bright red with high clouds predicts a fair day, while low clouds and pale yellow sunsets indicate possible showers, which may not be a good day for garden parties.

And for those gardeners who want to brush up their botanical Latin when talking about (or to) their plants, ``Gardener's Latin'' by Bill Neal (Algonquin; $10.95) is your handbook and bible. Neal will lead you down the old garden path, from abbreviatus (shortened lants, like a fir tree) to zonatus (a flower banded with a distinct color).

< FREE GARDEN TOUR: Canoga Park horticulturist Tom Hayduk will lead a walking tour of the Botanical Research Center and Nursery and the John and Juliana Gensley Native Plant Demonstration Garden at 10 a.m. Aug. 7 at Soka University. You'll learn about greenhouse gardening and propagation and get expert help with your own plant problems, but you'll need reservations (and sturdy shoes) for the event. Call [phone] or e-mail nativegarden(at)soka.edu. The Soka campus is located at 26800 W. Mulholland Highway, Calabasas.

HOUSE HUNTING: Love the charm of those turn-of-the-century homes with gingerbread and rose gardens? Oxnard's Heritage Square is now offering tours of 15 historic homes with walk-throughs of two homes. The free 45-minute guided tour begins at 10 a.m. each Saturday at the Heritage Square Visitor Center, 715 S. A St., Oxnard. For more information, call [phone].

Barbara De Witt, [phone]

barbara.dewitt(at)dailynews.com

CAPTION(S):

5 photos

Photo:

(1) no caption (Sow Seeds of Love and Friendship Will Grow)

Andy Holzman/Staff Photographer

(2) no caption (book: ``Dogwood & Catnip: Living Tributes to Pets We Have Loved and Lost'')

(3) no caption (book: ``Cats' A.B.C.'')(4) no caption (book: ``The Gardener's Weather Bible'')

(5) no caption (book: ``Gardener's Latin'')