Includes indexes.

GARDENING Plenty of colorful photographs and illustrations enhance this hybrid mixture of identification guide, instructional gardening treatise, and cookbook. In the book's first half, the Hemphills, Australian authorities on growing and using herbs, survey over 60 herbs arranged alphabetically by scientific name. Each entry offers details on the herb's identification, history, cultivation, and harvesting, as well as uses (medicinal, cosmetic, and culinary). In the second half, the authors offer advice on using herbs as gifts and as medicine, herb gardening, and cooking with herbs. A general index and common name index provide good access to the text. This work compares favorably with other, similar titles, including Elisabeth Lambert Ortiz's excellent The Encyclopedia of Herbs, Spices, and Flavorings (LJ 11/15/92), and its old-fashioned, English flavor (the book was first published in Australia) is sure to be popular with public library patrons. [Garden Book Club selection.] John Charles, Scottsdale P.L., Ariz.-

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