If life does indeed have second acts, New York socialite and fashion icon C.Z. Guest certainly scripted an improbable one for herself: newspaper garden columnist. And she will bring her expertise, as well as a slide show of the gardens at her Long Island estate, to Baltimore this week.

Born to Boston society 82 years ago, she married Winston Churchill Guest, international polo star and heir to the Phipps steel fortune, in 1947, and began the glamorous life for which her classic good looks were so well suited.

For 50 years, she has been the standard of American fashion: inducted into the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame and most recently given the Fashion Icon award by the Council of Fashion Designers of America. She continues to earn her stripes, appearing in fall issues of Town & Country, Vogue and Harper's Bazaar.

But when a riding accident temporarily confined her to bed in the mid-1970s, she reached out in her boredom to friend and author Truman Capote, who suggested that she write a book containing all the gardening advice she had accumulated.

That book became a newspaper column, now it its 27th year, which continues to appear Sundays in the New York Post and weekly in 350 other newspapers. When she began writing it, she says, people didn't know what the word "mulch" meant.

She has published five books, including her most recent, Garden Talk: Ask Me Anything, and her children's book, Tiny Green Thumbs, inspired by her three grandsons. She has also created a line of scented candles and garden furniture and accessories, and she speaks regularly to garden groups all over the country.

Guest answered still more gardening questions in a recent interview.

What's the most frequent question you are asked by readers of your column?

I have been writing the column for 26 years and the same questions keep coming up. That's why I wrote the [latest] book. My friends said you ought to just answer them all in one place. But the most difficult thing to teach gardeners is when and how to water.

Is that the most common mistake gardeners make?

Yes, overwatering and underwatering. I tell my readers: "Don't let your plants sit in a dish of water. The roots will rot. For heaven's sake, they are not fish."

The other mistake gardeners make is, in the spring, we always get spring fever and we take the plants out too soon. One warm day, and everything comes out of the greenhouse.

And people tend to plant their peonies too deep. They won't bloom. They will be just foliage. I have been all over Long Island pulling people's peonies up, and they tell my, "My dear, the gardener will be furious." And I tell them, "Well, let him. He has planted your peonies too deep."

Are you experiencing the same drought conditions in Long Island that have hit Maryland this year? How are you handling it?

I have news for you. We had a hell of a rain up here all last night. All my friends in Monkton are really crying the blues. But we had 30 straight days of temperatures over 95 degrees this summer. We are not quite as dry up here as you are, but we had the heat. And, of course, I am terrible in the heat.

Do you know any good men gardeners? Or is this something that only your women friends seem to enjoy?

The best gardener I know is a man. He is Elvin McDonald, and he does all the photography for my books. He is the garden editor at Traditional Home and he has worked for House Beautiful. That's how I met him -- when he came to take pictures of my gardens. We have gardened together for years. He knows all the best plants and all the newest plants, and he tells me.

And, of course, I think most of the letters to my column are from men gardeners.

Your garden at Templeton is, what, about 3 acres? How have you subdivided it?

Well, I have no idea how big it is. But I have a kitchen garden and a beautiful rose garden and another garden with five topiaries. And I have three greenhouses. One for my orchids. One for overwintering, where everything is cut back to within an inch of its life, and a growing greenhouse with seedlings and cuttings.

I do love my kitchen garden because I do love vegetables. I have vegetables and fruits and flowers for the house. I can walk out into my kitchen garden and know in an instant the things that need to be done. I had wonderful white corn this year. And yellow tomatoes. I have an asparagus bed and blackberries. Beets and root crops.

What is your favorite flower?

It depends. I love peonies in the spring. I adore orchids. The only flowers I don't raise are gladiolas. I just don't like them. I mean, you can't like everything. I tend to like the white and orange flowers.

I was on a garden show in Palm Beach one holiday season, and a caller asked about poinsettias and how to bring them back. And I said: "Frankly, it is very difficult, and it isn't worth the trouble. Just throw the damn thing out."

Well, you wouldn't believe the callers! They were screaming at me, "I thought you loved plants!"

Well, since then, I am very careful about how I answer questions, especially about poinsettias. I tell them: "Well, if you like poinsettias, here is what you do. But you are going to spend hours at it, and it isn't going to be worth it."

What do you pay to have done?

Well, I do have gardeners. I mean, they have been with me for years and some of them live on the property. And they all know what to do. They weed and they water and they prune and they stake and cultivate. And they cut the grass, of course.

Do you find that younger women in your social circle garden? Or is it an activity for after the nest is empty?

When I was younger and competing a lot in riding, I didn't garden as much, but I still had an orchid collection. And I had a little vegetable garden where I grew the easy things.

But I think being a sports person all my life made me a better gardener. First of all, when I was riding or fox hunting, I was outside all the time. I was able to take in all the things around me, and I learned to see things and notice things without really knowing it. Being a sportsperson taught me discipline. Gardening is not a leisure activity, it is an extension of daily life. If you don't weed, something else will come along and eat what you've grown. It does give you discipline.

What do you wear to garden? How do you handle the sun?

I just wear khaki pants and a T-shirt, and a hat, of course. I wear rubber shoes in the spring and sneakers the rest of the year. I always garden early. The earlier, the better for the garden. I am up at 6 a.m. most days, anyway. It is from all the years with the horses, and I do it then.

What famous people have been in your gardens, and have they appreciated it?

I think every gardener is different. But Oscar de la Renta is a terrific gardener.

Do you use your gardens for entertaining?

I had a lecture this year here. Sometimes I have given classes. It is so easy to do.

Do you have plans for any new beds or new areas or new plants?

I don't change it too much. Elvin helps me. We talk about the latest bulbs. He is the only person, besides Russell Page [the late British landscape architect], I have ever gardened with. Russell found me five of the most perfect topiaries for my topiary garden, and he taught me how to take care of them.

The title of your book and column is Ask Me Anything. Any questions ever stump you?

Well, my goodness, I can't know everything. That's why when I give talks, I always ask if there is anyone in the audience who may know something about this plant. It makes it more fun, too.

I mean, I want people to be able to relate to me. I don't want them to think, "Oh, God. She knows too much. She makes me nervous."

Meet the author

C.Z. Guest will give a lecture, titled "Glamour in the Garden," at 9:30 a.m. on Friday and include a slide show of the gardens at her Long Island estate, Templeton. Guest will be here for the Maryland Historical Society's Antiques Show at historic Rainbow Hill, Gen. Douglas MacArthur's former estate in Green Spring Valley.

Tickets, which include lecture, Continental breakfast and antiques show admission, are $50 a person. An additional $25 will guarantee a signed copy of Guest's book, Garden Talk: Ask Me Anything. For tickets or more information, call the Maryland Historical Society box office at 410-685-3750, Ext. 321, or go to the society's Web site at www.mdhs.org.