Imagine yourself on a Hawaiian beach on a sultry evening, your eyes closed, the air redolent of the heady perfume of gardenia, tuberose, white ginger, frangipani, lemon and orange blossoms, and jasmine. The ocean surf rolls in waves in the background, and when your eyelids open ever so slightly, the white shaft of the moon bounces off of the whitecaps of the water, shattering into crystals far more rich than any grouping of singular color you can conceptualize.

Now picture yourself under a full moon, sitting on your own deck or patio, your day's work over, and this time owed to no one save yourself. If you've thought ahead, you will still be able to enjoy the sensual delights of the expensive Hawaiian vacation by having planted the fragrant white gardenia, and placing a small fountain in the corner. Voilà! Scent, sound, and sight, all satisfied and for a fraction of the price.

Widely used in perfumery, the gardenia (Gardenia jasminoides) is a native of the tropics and subtropics of the Old World. In 1754, Captain Hutcheson, skipper of the English ship Godolphin, was bound for home from India when he decided to make a short visit to South Africa. As he was walking along the shoreline, the sweet heavy fragrance of a plant covered with double white, waxy blossoms drew his attention. After it was dug up and taken on board, this amazingly resilient plant survived the harsh trip to England.

Merchant and botanist John Ellis named it gardenia, after Dr. Alexander Garden, a physician and botanist from Charleston, South Carolina. Apparently this was a common way for practitioners of this relatively nascent science (modern botany was begun in the late 15th to early 16th centuries) to honor each other, thus making way for a communal worldwide informational database.

Southern gardeners have for generations employed these versatile plants. With a large show of blooms in early spring, they continue to produce flowers throughout the summer and even into fall; the blossoms open white and gradually fade to gold. Used as specimen shrubs, planted en masse as hedges, used for screening, in borders, as ground covers, or grown in containers, gardenias' beauty is matched by their extraordinary perfume.

By planting them in pots, you can move them so that their fragrance is always available to you. One caveat: gardenias prefer warm, frost-free locations that are protected from the hot afternoon sun; the ideal site is one that offers morning sun and dappled shade in the afternoon. So when moving your containerized gardenia, keep its light preferences in mind. And remember to use a high-quality potting mix that contains water crystals and a slow-release fertilizer.

To repay these marvelous plants for the beauty and scent they give in return, plant them in soil with excellent drainage and a pH of around 6.0. Set the root-ball about 1 inch higher than the surrounding soil (this will help in ensuring adequate drainage) and then gently taper the soil up to the top of the exposed root-ball. Mulch to retain moisture, and treat them to monthly feedings of a fertilizer blended for acid-loving plants such as azaleas and camellias.

If the idea of an evening party with a tropical theme appeals to you, surround your gardenias with variegated hostas and fern fronds. Light from below, turn on the fountain, and pluck one perfect gardenia bloom to wear in your hair. It will be a party to be remembered for years to come.

Fennel is an eye-catching addition to your herb garden, with delicate feathery leaves complemented by sprays of tiny yellow flowers in late summer to mid-autumn. Its perennial root stock is hardy from USDA zones 4 to 10, and its sturdy celery-like stalks will typically grow to a height of as much as 4 feet.

A sun-lover, fennel is not completely averse to some shade, and actually should be planted outdoors when the soil is cool. Sow in well-drained, medium dry soil, in rows spaced 3 feet apart, and thin the sturdiest plants to a foot apart within each row. Protect your newbies by staking them at 18 inches. As fennel cross-pollinates with dill, do not plant the two near each other.

All parts of this plant are edible. Cut the leaves once the flowers have bloomed and use them either fresh or dried in your cooking. To stimulate continued leaf growth, remove the flower heads after they bloom. Trim back the stems in autumn. Having a mild anise taste, this versatile herb is used in sausage, as a rub for pork and beef, and for flavoring seafood. The leaves are great in salads and sauces, the root and stalks can be eaten as vegetables, and the seeds enhance cookies, breads, and beverages.

Unlike so many of today's popular herbs, fennel was not a favorite with the ancient Greeks. They called it fennel marathon, from the word maraino, whose meaning is "to grow thin." However, it was this identifying characteristic of appetite suppression that gave it use on fasting days in medieval times.

Strong fennel tea is said to ease menstrual and menopausal symptoms, and when thickened with honey is said to help a cough. Add this rejuvenating herb to a facial steam to open the pores of the skin. And evil spirits are believed to avoid an abode when it is hung with St. John's Wort over the door.

Fennel is altogether a most delicious, visually appealing, and historically interesting herbal addition to your garden.

When most people think of annuals they think about upright varieties for borders and containers. But when planning your annual garden, think about more than just upright plants. There are a number of wonderful trailing varieties that are perfect for providing a splash of color between shrubs, on a hillside or cascading over a rock wall or trailing from a hanging basket.

For a hillside, it's hard to beat trailing lantana, with its showy purple and white blooms. A happy plant can reach 3-4 ft across in diameter. If you are looking for a slightly flatter foliage that hugs the ground, consider the mauve-flowering scaevola.

It's easy to perk up your landscape by planting patches of million bells (callibrachoa) in spaces between larger shrubs. This colorful annual comes in a variety of bright hot colors including red, yellow, apricot, white, pink, fuchsia, blue, and violet. Another alternative would be verbena, which is available in many colors, flower sizes and flat or mounding foliage. These plants also look great flowing over rock walls or pool edges.

For large splashes of color in the landscape, use petunias or ivy geranium. Both grow incredibly fast and come in every color under the sun. You can dress up the edges of a boring-looking vegetable garden with nasturtium, whose orange, red and yellow flowers are also edible.

All of the above mentioned plants perform well in hanging baskets but there are a few plants that make great partners with them and are particularly suited for container planting. To add some texture and unique foliage color to your hanging baskets consider using silver dichondra, licorice plant (helichrysum) or parrot's beak (Lotus maculatus). All have silvery grey foliage that provides a great contrast to other plants.

While most plants in hanging baskets perform better with a little shade from the afternoon sun, one annual is particularly suited for slightly shadier confines. Use trailing lobelia, which comes in many shades of blue, rose and white. Its cheerful little blossoms are perfect for any container.

Answer:

Double digging is an old garden technique of amending the soil in a flower or vegetable garden that is still as effective today as it was back in medieval Europe.

But be forewarned, double digging is a lot of work. In fact, just thinking about it makes us break out in a sweat. The term comes from "double the depth" of a normal spade or shovel blade--hence double-digging. You will also be adding one third of the depth of your spade or shovel in soil amendment to the entire garden you are digging in.

To get started, dig out the topsoil to the depth of your spade or shovel in a trench one spade wide along one end of your bed and set aside in a wheelbarrow or on a tarp.

Turn, break and aerate the next spade depth and width. Work in one third by volume of soil amendment. Blend together with turned-over soil and fill in the first trench.

Now repeat the process with another trench. Blend that soil with more soil amendment, and transfer to the previous trench. At the end of the bed, place the topsoil from the wheelbarrow or tarp over the last section, add amendment, and mix it in.

Make sure to remove any rocks or old pieces of roots as you fill in each trench.

Now--if you haven't collapsed yet--go ahead and plant your flowers. Better yet, plant a new crop of veggies. You'll need the vitamins to help you recover from the exhaustion! More seriously--if you have poor soil, double-digging is one of the most effective ways to improve the soil to a good depth, one that will allow your plant roots plenty of room to grow. Rototilling and such can help too but it doesn't improve much but the top layer of soil. Double-digging may be labor-intensive, but it works.