Sweet Peas. For sweet peas by December, plant seeds now. Look for varieties designated "early flowering." Spring or Summer-flowering types won't bloom until the days are more than twelve hours long. To speed germination, soak seeds overnight before planting. Provide a trellis for vines to climb.

Peas. Choose a good variety. There are three basic type of peas, snow peas, snap peas and English peas. The first two have edible pods, English peas have to be shelled. Peas need a trellis for vines to climb. Unless you've grown peas in the same place within the last 3 years or plan to fertilize with nitrogen, inoculate the seed with rhizobia. The rhizobia allows the legume to pull nitrogen from the air and is available from most seed catalogs and nurseries.

Cool-season Vegetables. Plant cool-season vegetables such as broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, kale, kohlrabi, mustard, lettuce and other greens.

Cool-season Flowers. Plant cool-season flowers. This includes calendula, cineraria, dianthus, delphiniums, Iceland poppies, nemesia, pansies, snapdragon, stock, wild flowers.

Spring-flowering bulbs. Plant drought-resistant South African bulbs and corms and Tazetta and Tazetta hybrids (Narcissus). Store other Narcissus and Spring-flowering bulbs for later planting.

Irises. Plant bearded iris rhizomes in areas that get at least a half-day of sun. (If you're in San Diego check out the "San Diego/Imperial County Iris Society Plant Sale")

Amaryllis Belladonna. Dig up and divide Amaryllis belladonna (Naked Ladies) after they bloom but before new roots and foliage have begun to grow. If the bulbs are transplanted during this brief period of dormancy, next year's flowering will not be interrupted.

Camellias. Keep camellias well watered this month. Letting them go dry will cause the buds to drop off, depriving you of their beautiful blooms. Some varieties of camellias form a great many more buds than they can support and so will naturally drop buds. The naturally-dropped bud will be green whereas a water-stressed plant will drop brown buds. For the largest flowers, you can start "disbudding" camellias now by removing all but one flower bud from each cluster. Be careful not to remove the growth bud. Growth buds are thin and pointed; flower buds are round and fat.

Citrus. Make sure citrus trees are adequately and evenly watered during this month. If the roots go dry, the result can be split fruits.

Cymbidiums. Switch cymbidiums to a lower nitrogen, higher phosphorous & potassium fertilizer to encourage development of bloom spikes. If your cymbidium leaves are dark green, chances are that they're in too much shade. Bring them out into more light until their leaves turn a yellowish color.

Hydrangeas. If you want to maintain a "blue" hydrangea or change your hydrangea's color, you need to start now; Once they start developing buds, it's too late. Not all hydrangeas can be made blue. White varieties always stay white and some pinks turn purple instead of blue. The "flowers" on your hydrangea are really modified leaves called bracts, just like the so-called flowers of poinsettias. The hydrangea bract color can be modified by adjusting the pH of the soil. A pH 4.5 to 5.0 yields blue flowers, a pH 5.5 to 6.5 yields mauve, and a pH 7.0 to 7.5 yields pink. Test the pH of the soil around the root run of the plant with a soil test kit or litmus paper. Sulphur or aluminum sulfate can be used to lower soil pH. Liberal use of compost will also aid in reducing soil pH.

Irises. Clean up the iris beds now. Cut off damaged leaves, remove debris and mulch beds. Irises will not bloom if over-crowded and need to divided about every three years. If your irises need dividing, do it now.

Oleanders. Oleanders can be pruned now after bloom. Pruning in the Spring instead of the Fall may reduce Spring bloom. Prune oleander back severely, don't chop off tops like a hedge. This fails to renew the plant and all you get is a unattractive hedge with no flowers.