Where are you Christmas, why can’ t I find you?

These lyrics from the theme song of the movie How the Grinch Stole Christmas could probably be changed to Where are you winter, why can’ t I find you?

Next week it s official, winter is here, though it’ s sure a bit freaky outside with this warm weather.

I was stunned to see blooming flowers, that is, flowers that only blossom in the spring, during a walk around the yard this week.

Bare hydrangea shrubs in the warmest part of the yard have started to bud up with new green growth. Annuals, yes annuals that were killed by frost low to the ground, are pushing up new growth from the base.

Let ’s not even mention the tulips and daffodils that are four inches out of the ground and the lawn, which is greener and thicker than it was in July.

Looking at the 15-day forecast, temperatures aren’ t predicted to go any lower than 40 degrees during the day, with many days averaging closer to 50. This sort of weather is what you might expect in the Carolinas or Virginia, but not here in New England in the middle of December. It seems that the snowflakes and cold weather are truly a ways off, and a white Christmas is something we’ ll likely just have to dream about this year. Nevertheless, the nights are longer and there’ s little to do once the holidays have passed, so I rather look forward to this bit of dormancy and separation from the daily chores of the garden. I use this time to catch up on my stack of garden reading materials, journals and the load of letters and e-mail I receive in response to this column. Trust me, I read all of your kind notes and your suggestions, ideas and questions are very helpful.

I’ ll admit it though; I love to read about gardening nearly as much as I love to garden. In fact, I don t know how I d make it to spring without a few good gardening books to clutch onto during these next few months. There really is something gratifying about scanning the pages that are filled with glossy photos of picture-perfect gardens and landscapes. I gaze at fields abloom with thousands of spring bulbs without worrying about the tangled mess they’ ll turn into shortly after blooming.

I love finely sculptured lawn edges that lead into the garden beds and the beauty of the dark mulch against the green grass. I am able to forget about the strenuous work and continual edging throughout the summer to keep those grassy edges in perfect order. May and June borders of peonies, delphiniums, poppies, iris and daylilies are set afire in a blaze of early summer colors. I can push thoughts aside of what they’ ll look like in August, when perennial flowering is somewhat scarce. For now, I’ m enjoying the photos of gardens in full glory and that’ s all that matters.

A wonderful book that s been out of publication for a number of years, but is still my all-time favorite is Crockett s Victory Garden. (Little, Brown and Co.). This book was instrumental in fine-tuning my in-depth interest in gardening.

James Underwood Crockett, whose enormously popular Crockett s Victory Garden show, out of WGBH-TV in Boston many years ago, had a way of simplifying gardening techniques. He translated them into laymen s terms with his easy-to-follow, straightforward advice.

The book is packed with fantastic pictures and follows a month-to-month plan for vegetable gardening.

While the book is no longer printed, I ve had no problem finding it for sale at a variety of online sites, such as www.amazon.com and ww.bn.com (Barnes and Noble). You’ ll likely have to settle for a used copy, but believe me, if you ve got a bad case of the gardening blues this is the one book that ll lift the spirits on dreary winter days!

Garden essay books can take a reader a step further. Here, there are no pictures to stimulate the eyes; instead we are allowed to let our minds run free with dreamy visions of the authors gardens and experiences.

One such book I have enjoyed reading is called A Northeast Gardener’ s Year by Lee Reich (Addison-Wesley Publishing).

The book travels the months of the year with firsthand experience that’ s less intimidating than the picture­perfect gardens that can create a degree of jealous anxiety. I can relate to his accounts of Japanese beetles devouring summer squash plants or of night-raiding woodchucks running amuck in the corn patch.

I also enjoy reading seasonal books, and with winter nearly here, one of the most fascinating books on the subject of winter gardening is called Winter Garden Glory by Adrian Bloom (Harper Collins Publishers).

The true spirit of winter gardening is captured in glossy pictures. Bloom writes about which types of plants and associations are best suited for the season of winter; late fall, early winter, deep winter, and, finally, late winter garden. There are detailed plans for planting winter gardens, and a multitude of ideas are presented to show how even the smallest winter garden can have a huge visual impact in a landscape during a season where we typically do not spend much time in the garden.

On the flip side of all this imaginative reading are the technical books. Surely this type of reading can be a bit dry at times, but gardeners need to know the basics for truly spectacular gardens.

For example, take the garden term pH. We all use the term quite regularly, but what really is pH and why are particular levels of pH so important to all plants? Being able to identify plant diseases, or better, prevent them, is vital in our gardens. Where else besides the garden, can you learn to recognize powdery mildew-infected plants, fusarium wilt or anthracnose spots on beans?

Close-up shots of cabbage maggots, wireworms, Mexican bean beetles, or a downright scary looking tomato hornworm are certainly not the highlights in my garden readings. Still, a gardener has to be able to identify a pest and to quickly and safely know how to eradicate it, and I just consider this kind of reading a necessary chore.

Finally, seed catalogues make great reading, but I try and hold off until the holidays have passed before I become too emotionally involved with them. I know the glossy pictures and the enticing descriptions of the vegetables and flowers can be rather tempting at this time of year.