Moving House: Rosie Atkins, founder and editor of the award-winning British journal Gardens Illustrated, is leaving that publication to become curator of the venerable Chelsea Physic Garden, founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Company of Apothecaries. Next month, she'll take up residence on four acres of walled garden in the heart of London. The second female curator ever, she says she is the only one to arrive with family in tow. The colorful history of the Chelsea Physic Garden is chronicled in a new book, "The Apothecaries' Garden" by Sue Minter (Sutton Publishing, $39.95).

Hot for Hepaticas: These modest little plants are the new, new thing. No wonder. Hepaticas are cute, they bloom in early spring, and are amazingly varied in color and form. Some, like H. acutiloba, are easy-to-grow American wildflowers. But of course collectors covet the more exotic hepaticas, to which entire nurseries in Japan and Europe are devoted. Mail-order catalogs offer such pricey plants as Kousei, a fully double white and pink, for 395 pounds. You don't even want to figure out what that is in dollars. But if you do, they're available from Paul Christian Rare Plants, P.O. Box 468, Wrexham, LL13 9XR, UK.

Don't Hold Your Breath: Readers keep asking what has happened since a terrorist firebombing destroyed Merrill Hall at the Center for Urban Horticulture last May. A simple answer: Not much. The Environmental Liberation Front has claimed credit, but no one has been arrested. The Miller Hull Partnership has been hired to design a new building, but the $4.1 million allocated by the state Legislature for the project falls more than a million dollars short of replacement costs. The University of Washington is "self-insured," so it is responsible for coming up with the money. Though facing budget shortages, the university has promised enough additional money to move the project forward — to rebuild, if not replace all that was lost. If everything goes smoothly, the soonest possible date for completion looks to be April 2004. Meantime, faculty, staff and students are housed in trailers, academic and public-outreach classes continue, and the library reopened in much reduced space at Isaacson Hall across the courtyard from the burned-out Merrill Hall.

Heronswood Still Hearty: Aficionados of Heronswood Nursery in Kingston were relieved to find a fat 2002 nursery catalog in their mailboxes in early January. The consternation that occurred when W. Atlee Burpee bought Heronswood in 2000 flared into hair-pulling lament when Burpee filed for Chapter 11 last summer, and the future of Heronswood appeared tenuous. Gardeners can sigh with relief as they enjoy 256 pages of Dan Hinkley's quips and stories. Contact Heronswood at 360-297-4172 for a copy of the catalog ($5), and information on this year's events.

Best In Show: While dogs have been trotting around the ring at Westminster, outstanding plants have been winning awards, too. Just as sales peaked on Scottish terriers when a black beauty won Best In Show a couple of years ago, we'll probably see lots of fluffy white phlox in gardens this summer. Plant awards are based on practical criteria such as hardiness, but eye appeal plays a role, too. Phlox paniculata 'David,' voted the 2002 Perennial Plant of the Year, has showy white, fragrant flowers and foliage that doesn't succumb to powdery mildew. The Pennsylvania Horticultural Society chose four Gold Medal Plant Award winners for 2002: Buxus sempervirens 'Vardar Valley,' a blue-green boxwood; Campsis grandiflora 'Morning Calm,' a Chinese trumpet creeper with salmon-orange flowers; Malus 'Adirondack,' a crabapple with upright form and orange berries; and Physocarpus opulifolius 'Diablo,' a purple-leafed ninebark.

Now In Bloom

The Cornelian cherry (Cornus mas) is not a cherry but a dogwood, and one of the very earliest trees to bloom. Its little flowers open before the leaves appear, coating the spreading branches in a haze of pale yellow. It stays small (to 15 feet), and its leaves turn red-purple in autumn. The bright red oblong berries are edible by late summer.

Valerie Easton is a horticultural librarian. Her new book, "Plant Life: Growing a Garden in the Pacific Northwest" (Sasquatch Books, 2002) is an updated selection of her magazine columns. Valerie's e-mail address is vjeaston@aol.com.