Make the Most of Winter Plantings

* Continue planting cool-season vegetables in the winter garden. Most are cool-weather crops, such as snow peas and pak choy. The mix of greens called mesclun is another treat easily planted now.

* Look for the large florist’s cyclamen blooming in quart pots, one of the best bets for shady parts of the winter garden. Though they may return after going dormant for the summer (they grow from tubers), they are usually tossed out and replanted each fall.

* It is time to overseed Bermuda grass with annual rye to cover up its winter brown. You need one pound of ryegrass seed for every 100 square feet of lawn, so before you head for the nursery, measure the areas to be overseeded (too much seed can cause spots that rot later on). Mow the lawn very short, sow seed, scatter a light covering of organic amendment or manure on top, water, and you will soon have a bright green lawn for winter.

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Los Angeles Times Garden 2001 Calendar