AUTUMN BOOKS move beyond flowers and food to reflect the quiet season to come. With a focus on majestic trees and miniature worlds, color and sustainability, the authors help us see the world around us in ways both innovative and satisfying.

"Seeing Trees: Discover the Extraordinary Secrets of Everyday Trees," by Nancy Ross Hugo (Timber Press, $29.95). This is the book to change us all into unabashed tree worshippers. The intricacies of cones, the miracle of a chestnut, the charm of the helicopter-like fruits on maple trees — all are photographed larger-than-life size and in vibrant color.

Experienced horticulturist Hugo brings a beginner's mind to a trove of familiar trees. She quotes writers from the early plant explorers to Diane Ackerman's latest novel to invoke the "daily astonishment of trees." There's not a thing here about staking, fertilizing or otherwise caring for trees; this book is about how trees grow in communities, how they unfold through the seasons, how they smell and look in their most secret, changing parts. It's a book to stir childlike wonder, an artist's eye and a plant enthusiast's delight. The whole time I was reading it, I kept thinking how little I knew, really, about trees, and how happy I was to learn more.

"Tomorrow's Garden: Design and Inspiration for a New Age of Sustainable Gardening," by Stephen Orr (Rodale Press, $24.95). You've probably seen Stephen Orr's byline in Martha Stewart Living, The New York Times and House and Garden magazine; this man has visited a great many gorgeous properties and interviewed skilled gardeners for years. Here he distills his environmental concerns and hopes for the future in case study after case study. You meet the designers and gardeners who are promoting and living change, and you'll feel like you're joining Orr on the front lines of the food movement. Yet Orr's also a realist with an eye for a pretty garden, celebrating a host of gardens as eye-catching as they are drought-tolerant and innovative.

"Terrarium Craft: Create 50 Magical, Miniature Worlds," by Amy Bryant Aiello and Kate Bryant (Timber Press, $18.95). Terrarium gardening is the new, new thing, but I didn't understand why until I was drawn into this look at creating microcosms of the natural world small enough to set on a windowsill. Although the idea of such glass-encased scenes goes way back, there's nothing Victorian about the aesthetic here. Both writer and photographer are young, chic women from Portland; the artist-author co-owns Artemisia Nursery and Gallery. Her do-it-yourself sensibility is reflected throughout, along with inspirational photos.

Take this description: "The textures nestled within these French canning jars are as delicately paired as the elements of a multicourse Parisian meal; crunchy and soft, airy and earthy, matte and glisteny, smooth and rough, verdant and flowery. Deliciously sensual but definitely nonfattening." You'll enjoy "Terrarium Craft" whether or not you ever stick moss, sand and pebbles into a jar.

"Contemporary Color in the Landscape: Top Designers, Inspiring Ideas, New Combinations," by Andrew Wilson (Timber Press, $34.95). The power of color, both subtle and bold, is explored in a welcome look at contemporary gardens. These sleek, unexpectedly plant-rich and cleverly conceived spaces make me realize how rarely we see really modern gardens in all their variety.

Color is as endlessly fascinating to gardeners as the weather, and you can see why in these often intensely colored designs. The play of light and shade, of hardscape and plants is beautifully captured in gardens from Bloedel Reserve on Bainbridge Island to Australia, England, France and Germany. The vivid color play in these gardens just might keep our spirits up through the sensory deprivation of midwinter and keep us going until our gardens come alive again next spring.

Valerie Easton is a Seattle freelance writer and author of "The New Low-Maintenance Garden." Check out her blog at www.valeaston.com.