A couple of lightly rainy days will not make up for the long summer of dry weeks and weeks. So, it's not yet time to get out and make new gardens or transplant what really needs a better location.

Hold off on major work until we have a dependable twp weeks of rain. In the meantime, bulbs are coming into the nurseries and garden centers.

Mainstays of the spring garden, hardy bulbs should be purchased as soon as they're available for the best, healthiest selection. As to planting time, October and November are the perfect time to get them into the ground in time for sufficient winter chill to trigger next year's colorful display.

Remember that bulbs look best in large drifts, so buy enough to make a point. Don't plant them out along a walk or drive like a line of soldiers. Instead group them in fives, sevens and nines to get a real impact.

As you're selecting daffodils and tulips, don't forget the smaller bulbs like crocus, grape hyacinth, or snowdrops. These small bulbs are generally planted half as deep as larger bulbs, so they can occupy the same location.

For tulips and daffodils, dig your planting hole about 8 inches deep. Add some slow-release fertilizer to the bottom and mix in with the soil. Plant the bulbs with about a knuckle's distance apart. Fill in with soil to about 4 inches deep and then plant a thicket of small bulbs.

Cover the bulbs to soil level and mark what you've done so you don't accidentally dig them up when doing other garden work later in the fall. Next season you will have weeks of color in a grouping worthy of spring beauty.

Q I'd like to put a couple vines on a trellis. It's not a particularly stout trellis so I'd appreciate some suggestions that won't turn into monsters.

A It's wise to think about the strength of the trellis before selecting your vines. Some vines, like wisteria, evergreen clematis, akebia, kiwi and trumpet vine, become substantial and can crush or collapse any but the sturdiest structures.

I've seen them consume a house! Fortunately, there are many better-behaved critters.

In a sunny location, selections include passion vine (Passiflora 'Constance Elliot,' P. caerulea, P. incarnata, and P. 'Incense'), Chilean jasmine (Mandevilla laxa), Banks Rose (Rosa banksiae) honeysuckle, hardy jasmine (Jasminum x Stephanense), most clematis including evergreen Clematis x cartmanii 'Early Sensation' aka 'Avalanche' with its highly dissected leaves, and C. fasciculiflora with striking evergreen silver veined leaves.

For a partially sunny location, choose variegated porcelain vine (Ampelopsis brevipedunculata 'Elegans'), Star Jasmine (Trachelospermum jasminoides), and Carolina Jessamine (Gelsemium sempervirens).

As you can see, available selections decrease as shade increases. Not surprising since the whole purpose of being a vine is to reach for the sunlight.

Q I've been noticing Australian cabbage palms seem to be hardy in the Puget Sound basin, but they're usually sold as filler for summer container gardens. What