In the beginning, Pamela Crawford was not enthused about the subject of her last three books: container gardening. She wrote the first book because people asked for it.

"I started researching it," she said in a recent phone conversation from her home in Georgia. "I didn't want to do a book about something that didn't have impact in the landscape."

As a landscape architect, she had some preconceived notions about containers, relegating them to the accent category. Now she's a container convert, growing more than 60 of her own creations each year. She even uses them as focal points in the garden.

Her new book, "Easy Container Gardens" (Color Garden Publishing, $19.95), includes some stunning examples of containers that everybody can make. What puts her book head and shoulders above the rest is that the author planted the containers and grew them for an entire season, evaluating each plant before putting the combinations in her book. The planters run the gamut from those that will do well in very sunny locations to planters that thrive in shade.

Most other container books don't do that.

"[One book I just saw] had beautiful containers, but it didn't even tell you the light requirements [for the plants]. A lot of these [containers] are put together so they can take a picture of it. It's not grown by the author. I do it because it's a hobby as well as a job," she said.

She firmly believes that in the real world, people want planters that look nice for a long period of time, not just for a few weeks. Things like Gerber daisies will bloom for a short period and quit, which is normal for the plant. But if you don't know that, you set yourself up for failure, she said.

To put together long-lasting containers, plant selection is crucial.

"Calibrachoa is one that is tricky to buy," she said. Some work well, others not so well. "You really need to know the cultivar you are buying."

Wax begonias always work, but petunias can be erratic. This means some cultivars perform fabulously well, such as many of the 'Wave' and 'Supertunia' types, but others fail miserably and burn out by midseason.

Going into the nursery with that information is going to ensure that you have success with your pots. And success, after all, is what people want.

The book starts with "Seven Easy Ways to Kill Plants."

1. Buy the wrong plants.

2. Buy the wrong potting mix.

3. Buy the wrong fertilizer.

4. Water incorrectly.

5. Pile potting mix around the stem of the plant.

6. Plant in a pot without holes.

7. Plant in the wrong amount of light.

The book is written in "sound-bite" form, Ms. Crawford said, because people with busy schedules don't have time to read pages of prose. Verbiage is kept at a mimum and photographs are prolific and large.

There are lists of no-fail plants, as well as plants she hasn't had much luck with and why. There are also step-by-step instructions for each lovely pot, including how many plants you need to buy to get the desired effect, how to care for the pot after it's planted and what fertilizer to use.

"I'm learning that I can cut out lots of steps that I used to do. The new potting mixes -- and I've tried all the major brands -- they all seem to be about the same," she said.

At this point, she does not recommend buying planting mixtures with fertilizer already added because she says it does not last all season.

Instead, she sprinkles Dynamite 9 Flowers & Vegetable fertilizer on the top of the soil after the planter is complete. After many years of experimenting, she found that this product worked the best and the longest, for nine continuous months. After much soul-searching, she decided to endorse it because she couldn't find anything close to it.

"[The product] revolutionized the way I container-garden," she said. "I had a lot of instances where fertilizers that I tried burned plants, as well as stained patios."

In some areas of the country, liquid fertilizers are banned altogether because runoff pollutes the ground water. Something as simple as the proper fertilizer and proper watering can make all the difference.

As for those water-absorbing polymers that the nurseries push: She has used planting mix that contains them but says even if they are present, you still need to water.

"Most containers need watering every day [in the hot summer months]. Even if the products cut watering by 30 percent, you still have to water every day."

She prefers using a drip irrigation system. In fact, she's busy trying to design one that doesn't have hundreds of annoying little parts.

She loves the fact that her newest book is applicable to gardeners all over the United States, as was her last book, "Instant Container Gardens." Her earliest book was about container gardens for Florida, where she used to reside. But it was while doing research that she found that most all the plants used in containers are universally available; it doesn't matter if you live in Minnesota or Florida.

"I'm just addicted to container gardens. One thing I love about it is that it is so fast. When I was a landscape architect, I worked all year on a house. With a container, I can spend an hour -- it's instant gratification," she said.

But what to do when the season is over? Many people anguish over storing plants throughout the winter. She laughs at the question.

"My main thrust is a decorative container that lasts all season and then goes into the compost pile."

Changing things up each year is part of the fun.