The approach of Valentine's Day has reminded me to check that I have ordered my favourite sunflower seeds for planting this spring. I grow sunflowers in the front garden each year. The tall stems bearing bright flowers are like sunny greetings to passing neighbours and others out on their daily walks.

Over the years, I've grown dozens of different sunflowers, but for its clean beauty, clear, light colour and easy vigour, I always return to Valentine, a 150-centimetre, open-pollinated variety with primrose-yellow petals around a dark brown centre disk.

In my garden, Valentine has always lived up to its elevated status as a European Fleuroselect Gold Medal award winner.

Flowers in this class rarely disappoint. Developed by Dr. Kovacs of Budapest, Hungary, Valentine is one of the best sunflowers for cutting. The blooms, produced on side branches as well as the main stalk, last over a week in water.

Valentine is listed in the William Dam and Veseys seed catalogues.

Sometimes I seed sunflowers indoors around mid-March, but more often I sow outdoors about the middle of April. Sunflowers, with their current broad diversity in plant height, flower form and colour, offer much in gardening adventure. One of the more exotic varieties I've grown is the big, bright yellow, wavypetaled Tarahumara (Seed Savers Exchange).

- Plant Propagation A to Z: Growing Plants for Free, by Geoff Bryant (Firefly Books, 224 pages, paperback, $24.95).

With a new gardening season starting, a basic how-to book on creating new plants from seed or by cloning is a useful thing.

Though the book delves briefly into specialized propagation techniques such as layering and grafting, it concentrates mainly on the common methods used by home gardeners: seed, division and stem cuttings.

Helpful charts abound. The first, an A to Z guide to general propagation methods, lists more than 1,000 ornamental and edible plants with columns to indicate the preferred way(s) to propagate each one.

The Growing from Seed chapter has a similar, 15page table of seeding directions. For each genus (Zinnia, Cyclamen, for instance), there are presoaking directions (if applicable), temperature range for optimal germination, a guide to the soil covering over the seeds and the usual time it takes for the seeds to germinate.

The chapter on division describes different types of plants that can be propagated this way, such as plants that form foliage rosettes, side shoots (offsets) or runners. Here, a nine-page table of plants indicates for each one the preferred season for dividing, best division size, the time it takes for a new division to mature, and the length of time before the new division will itself need to be divided.

In the chapter on cuttings, photographs illustrate the different kinds of cuttings, how to prepare and root them, and when to transplant or pot the rooted cuttings. The table indicates what kinds of cuttings suit each plant, the best season(s) for taking the cuttings, and the usual rooting time.

The second half of the book is a picture gallery of popular garden ornamentals with brief notes for each that include tips on the easiest way to propagate and other bits of practical advice.

The plant directory and all the charts list the plants by their Latin names, but an index of common names allows for quick access to any plant for which the botanical name may not be known.

Whether you enjoy growing plants from seed or are in the habit of sharing garden plants among friends, this book is a clear and easy guide.

GARDEN EVENTS

VRS meeting. The Victoria Rhododendron Society will meet on Monday at 7: 30 p.m. in the Garth Homer Centre, 813 Darwin Ave. Featured speaker is Shane Ford, whose topic is A Naturalist's Tour of Rhododendron macrophyllum populations in British Columbia and Washington. This speaker has completed extensive studies on the genetic variability, ecology and population biology of R. macrophylum.

Peninsula meeting. The Peninsula Garden Club will meet on Monday at 7: 30 p.m. in the Mary Winspear Centre in Sidney. Anne Marie Roy from Lee Valley Tools will speak about garden tool maintenance. She will bring a display of assorted garden tools and discuss what works best and which tools are most highly recommended. Questions will be welcomed. peninsulagardenclub.ca.

Qualicum meeting. The Qualicum Beach Garden Club will meet on Tuesday at 7 p.m. in the Q.B. Civic Centre. Harry Sumner will present Essentials of Pruning - practical pruning information for fruit trees and garden shrubs.

hchesnut@bcsupernet.com