I am inclined to believe what only two arborists have told me: there will be an "Indian summer" this year. This means that although the weather will not likely get uncomfortably warm, it might be warmer than would be expected this autumn, which is only half a month away. We can only wait and see.

Regardless of present and future weather conditions, it is still time to plant cool season vegetables. Seeds of beets, carrots, radishes, turnips, turnip greens, chard and lettuce can be sown now. It may be a bit too late to sow seed for early broccoli and cauliflower, but seedlings can still be planted along with seed for later crops. Cool season vegetables should be planted in small phases every two to four weeks until the end of December, so that the later phases are becoming productive as the earlier phases are being harvested.

However, I have found that cool season vegetables mature at such variable rates that one phase can be productive for more than a month. For example, I plant beets only twice--early and late. Instead of thinning the seedlings, I allow them all to develop. The faster, larger ones can be plucked as they begin to crowd and push aside the smaller ones.

This is a good excuse to pick beets when small and tender instead of big and tough, and clears the way for the smaller beets. The smaller ones can then continue to mature normally. This procedure does not produce large quantities of big beets at the same time as would be desirable for canning and pickling, but instead produces a constant supply of fresh beets.

Some varieties of apple and fig have been more or less delayed by the mild summer. My Gravenstein apples are only now finishing and their flavor seems to have been slightly compromised by the lack of summer heat. The golden delicious apples are not as delayed and seem as well flavored as usual. The early crop of black mission figs was both somewhat bland and sparse, but the late crop seems fine. The brown Turkey fig did not even produce an early crop.

(Most varieties of figs produce an early crop of softer and plumper "summer figs" that are ideal for eating fresh, followed by a later crop of richer and chewier "autumn figs" ideal for drying and canning. Severe winter pruning limits production of summer figs and promotes production of autumn figs.)

Crowded bearded iris, which have mostly been ignored since they bloomed in early spring, should be divided and replanted for bloom next year. They are actually quite resilient and do not care if they happen to get divided early or late. In fact, some people prefer to divide them as early as a month or so after bloom, or as late as winter. This is just a good time for division because iris rhizomes are about as dormant as they get before they begin to grow again during mild autumn weather.

The grand opening of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens will be Sept. 10 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the 2.6 miles of Guadalupe River Park and Gardens that extends through downtown San Jose from Highway 280 to Highway 880. Activities will be located in Discovery Meadow, McEnery Park, Arena Green, Confluence Point, Columbus Park and the new Guadalupe River Park and Gardens Visitor and Education Center. More information may be obtained online at www.grpg.org or by telephoning 408.998.2168.

Flower of the Week: Costa Rican butterfly vine

Like dogwood, poinsettia and bougainvillea, the somewhat rare Costa Rican butterfly vine, Dalechampia dioscoreifolia, blooms with small and unremarkable flowers surrounded by impressively colorful leaves known as bracts. Each bloom has a pair of purple bracts that resemble a butterfly, and may be as wide as six inches.

The pointed oval leaves are as long as three inches with slightly fuzzy undersides. With warmth and regular irrigation, vines may grow rapidly to as high as 20 feet. Bloom may be sporadic through the year, and is most profuse between summer and autumn.

Horticulturist Tony Tomeo can be contacted at 408.358.2574 or at LGHORTICULTURE@aol.com.