No wonder the Sunset Western Garden Book often is referred to as the bible of gardening in California.

When we ran a story last month on the latest edition to hit stores – the eighth since publication began in 1935 – we asked readers to share their memories of using this beloved book over the years. They responded with letters and e-mails brimming with affection.

Here are excerpts from several of the notes we received:

Sandra Pachaud, Menlo Park: “I was immediately drawn to the article (`Updating a Classic,’ House and Home, Feb. 10) on past Sunset gardening books. Seeing the familiar book covers was a walk down memory lane for me. My mother still treasures her 1954 edition, the year I was born, and the one I grew up with. In actuality, my father was the `green thumb’ in the household. He could put a stick in the ground, and it would grow.

“As for me, I didn’t get the `green thumb gene,’ so I rely heavily on my Sunset books to guide me. I have the 1979 edition, which was given to me as a present. I have used it many times throughout the years and have many plant tags stuffed between the important pages.

“As my gardening expertise grew, no pun intended, I decided to buy the 1995 version. How I’ve pored over that book these past 12 years. This book truly was my `bible’ last spring as my boyfriend and I attempted to landscape the front yard ourselves, and without much input from the experts.”

Sandra Beges, Los Altos: “I became a devotee of the Sunset Western Garden Book as a teenager. I was working at Merrill’s Packaging Co. in Burlingame in the late ’60s/early ’70s, while attending school. Merrill’s had the Lane Magazine and Book Co. contract for the shrink-wrapping and boxing of the 1967 edition. I would watch from the office as thousands a day were getting ready for shipment, and couldn’t wait to see if I could have an `extra.’ Nothing other than a garden wedding for me in 1974! “Recently, my mother gave me her 1969 copy of “Sunset Basic Gardening Illustrated” ($1.95) to add to my collection. It is dog-eared, stained, filled with clippings from the gardening section of numerous papers, been lovingly read and used through the years, as any beautiful garden book should. I look at my Sunset books as books with a soul.”

Rosemary Dunham, Sunnyvale: “I have a well-preserved 1964 Sunset Western Garden Book (which is a sixth printing of the 1954 edition). It has been my bible for the past 43 years. At the age of 90, I am still gardening and consulting this book. It is so well-preserved – spiral binding and a semi-hardcover and cost of $3.95. I enjoy working in my garden, and I keep my family and neighbors supplied with my luscious tomatoes and oranges, etc. Any surplus I donate to the Second Harvest Food Bank.

“This book has been a help to me for all these years, and at my age I do not need 768 pages of information.”

Patricia Virgadamo, Bonny Doon: “For me, the Sunset Western Garden Book isn’t just a reference work, it’s almost a family history of a sort.

“My first copy was the 1954 version. I got it in 1967 as a hand-me-down from my mother, who was an avid gardener and had rushed out and purchased the new edition as soon as it appeared. It was filled with her semi-illegible, smeared pencil margin notes. I seem to recall that it had a spiral binding that was both useful (allowing it to be opened wide) and fragile.

“When the 1979 version came out, I once again became the recipient of my mother’s ‘67 hand-me-down. I bought my own copy of the 1979 edition and kept it through to the 1995 version. I then handed down my ‘79 copy to my eldest daughter. My youngest daughter now lives in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern shore of Lake Huron. I miss her and sent her a copy of the 1988 edition that I found in a used book store. While her climate is different from any of our zones, much of the information remains valid and useful anywhere.

“The notion of a pristine, unmarked copy is as unimaginable to me as a cookbook without spatters and splotches. Impossible.

“Over the years I’ve tried various methods of tracking the various plants I’ve purchased. For a while I tried putting the plastic name spikes from the nursery pots into the encyclopedia at the proper point. While the bulging book held up (good binding!), it proved unwieldy. Now I’ve taken to using a highlighter pen on the names of the items I’ve planted. I have clips at various often-referenced parts (deer-proof plants) but having learned from my mother, I use a pen for my margin notes.

“Are there things I would change about the book? Sure. Will I buy the new edition? Absolutely! Like `Joy of Cooking,’ each edition flows through my family, changing hands and changing with the times, giving us new ideas, information and pleasure. I couldn’t NOT have it.”

Jeanette Anderson, Palo Alto: “I still have and use `Sunset’s Complete Garden Book,’ 1940 edition. After 67 years, the pages are yellowed, but it is in good condition. The reason I keep it and use it is because of the `Bloom Calendar.’

“This section lists what to do and when so you have blooms in a given month. Each month lists annual, perennials, bulbs and flowering shrubs. If, for example, you want your yard to be in full bloom in May, you check the month of May and learn just when to do what to achieve your goal.”

Jackie Hall, Los Altos: “I’m eagerly awaiting the new Sunset edition. I have them from 1954 to 2001 and refer to them regularly. The 1954 and the current 2001 seem to be bookends for the middle editions; these bookends are used the most. I particularly treasure 1954 because it is divided in sections: trees, shrubs, bulbs, etc.

“My daughter and her husband bought a Victorian in Healdsburg in 1991. The back yard sported a vigorously blooming vine, which an elderly neighbor confidently labeled `Dutchman’s Pipe.’ `Ooo,’ thought I, `if that is what it is, where are the butterflies?’ By searching through the 1954 vines section, I found it to be Clytostoma callistegioides (a violet trumpet vine). When I needed a small, manageable foundation hedge, I searched through the shrubs section and chose Euonymus japonicus pulchellus `Microphyllus’ (a box-leaf euonymus), which fit my needs perfectly.

“I enjoy watching plants come and go – being favored in one generation and gone the next. Sunset keeps pace and I appreciate that.”