By KAREN DuPRIEST
The Register-Guard

"Every plant has a story,
from poppies to morning glory.
You can trace your family roots
from those precious budding shoots.
And while your garden grows,
it's the world you get to know."
— Karen Poverty

OREGON'S GARDENERS may not be singing as they weed this summer, but they now have more of an opportunity to understand the origins of the plants they tend. A world map showing hundreds of plants origins, along with new plantings at the Washington Park Zoo in Portland, allow even non-gardeners to share the Grow to Know the World program initiated by Log House Plants in Cottage Grove.

A wholesale nursery which sells to approximately four dozen independent garden centers throughout Oregon and Washington, Log House has designed 50 different planting containers of flowers and herbs which got their start in countries and regions such as Spain, India, the mountains of Asia and even the Pacific Northwest. As Alice Doyle, who operates Log House with partner Greg Lee and some 20 assistants points out, however, the idea of Grow to Know the World is bigger than any planter.

"It's so moving to look at all the textures and the shapes and the colors of the flowers, and you're suddenly transplanted to a different part of the world," Doyle says. "Then you start thinking about the climate there, and what the people are like and what they wear, and so on."

The idea for Grow to Know the World germinated among the workers at Log House about two years ago when they decided to honor the United Nations' designation of 1986 as the International Year of Peace. Last fall Doyle began researching the origins of approximately 450 major groups of cultivated plants, accumulating thousands of cross-referenced index cards tying petunias to Brazil, Flanders poppy to the Caucasus Mountains, and so on.

At a meeting with the Portland zoo's senior gardener Kathleen Kincade last February, Doyle discovered "her ideas were running along the same track as mine," and before long Kincade had designed plantings which set trees, shrubs and flowers from animals' original homes near their living quarters.

"There are actually quite a few modem zoos in the United States that are interested in simulating environments for animals," Kincade says, "but as far as I know, our zoo is one of the first to get into displaying the flora of the region, concentrating on combining geographic origin with flower beds and ornamental borders."

Among the examples of plant and animal matchups Kincade pointed out on a stroll through the grounds last week were heliotrope, purple verbena and hardy fuchsia near the South American pengiuns, a profusion of lupine and clover near the Arctic display and an extensive bamboo garden, complete with a clacking water-powered deer chaser, at the entry to the Asian monkey house.

Plantings still under way Include a welcoming display of Pacific Rim flowers around the zoo's main entrance, symbolizing the geographic and cultural links between Asia and the Pacific Northwest. (A major draw at the zoo this summer is a pair of rare golden monkeys from China.)

The Pacific Rim takes center stage on the Grow to Know the World map, Implemented by Eugene graphics designer Kathy Kifer. Traditional cartography shows Asia and the Pacific Northwest "literally on opposite sides of the world," the map's text points out. This world view sets them in a different perspective to acknowledge the many plant species which have traveled through the forces of wind and water or through human and animal migration from one land mass to another.

(Grow to Know the World maps are available by mail for from Log House Plants/The Bookmine, 702 -Main St., Cottage Grove, 97424.)

The maritime Northwest is an ideal area to experiment with plants from around the world, Doyle says. "In this climate we can grow practically anything and grow it well. Everything but tender annuals can go in the ground from February on, which means things are well established before the weather gets hot. It's hard to do that in Chicago."

Even though flower, herb and vegetable beds have been sprouting for several months In Lane County, there's still time for local gardeners to grow to the know the world this year. Here are some suggestions for how and why:

SPAIN and MEXICO Your children have been studying the conquistadors in school? Explore old and new world plants with them by planting rosemary, sage, shasta daisies and the delicate blue flowers of nigella as representatives of Spain. Then go, wild, with Mexican brights like zinnia, dwarf dahlias or tagetes marigolds such as "Paprika," and maybe set out a pumpkin patch too.

SOUTH AMERICA You love the haunting folk music of the Andes. Strum your guitar of an evening beside the fragrant blossoms of nicotiana or cleome (Brazil), border the bed with portulaca (Argentina), or sit under a basket of fuchsias (Chile). Plants, like music, speak an international langauge.

RUSSIA Long ago, your family emigrated from Kiev. Make a dried bouquet of Echinops exaltatus (Russian globe thistle), Gypsophila paniculata (baby's breath) and Limonium latifolium (statice), and you'll also be preserving a tiny bit of life along the Dnepr.

CHINA Traditional arts of the Orient bring peace to the walls of your apartment. Arrange a bowl of China asters with cynoglossum amabile (forget-me-not) and dianthus under the watercolor from Beijing. Set out rhubarb next tall in your garden and gather the flavor of Manchuria in the spring.

EUROPE Scents from the kitchen gardens of France attracted you on a tour last summer. Make it happen in Oregon by mixing chives, French tarragon and sorrel with the carrots, radishes and leeks. Limber up your digging arm now in preparation for thai asparagus bed you'll be putting in next fall.

MEDITERRANEAN Maybe you'll have to buy the olive oil, but much else about the savory cuisine of the Mediterranean can come from your Northwest garden. Construct an herb planter near the back door, and interplant Greek oregano, summer and winter savory, sage and rosemary with some decorative purple alyssum. Flavor will be just a step away.

SOUTHERN AFRICA Monarch of the veldt and red hot poker - their Latin names Ventdlum fastuosum and Kniphofia uvaria barely hint at the boldness of these plants. Sun-loving expanses In your garden are best for them, but another native of the region lobelia - can tolerate more shade, and looks lovely trailing between pretty, scented geraniums. Drama can come in every form in the garden.

CALIFORNIA and points outward

OK, so you're a homebody. You don't want to go exploring this summer. Stay close to home and cultivate California poppies, baby blue eyes (Nemophila maculata) and clarkia. Next year, you can always spread your wings by planting Rocky Mountain columbine and penstemon in early spring. Before you know it, you'll be honoring Texas with the Dahlborg daisy!