In the Santa Clara Valley, both autumn and spring are too brief for peas. Fortunately, it is too late to be concerned with planting additional phases of cool-season or undecided vegetables, and it is now time for warm-season vegetables, which should be mature and beginning production as the cool-season vegetables are finishing.

Many warm-season vegetables should be grown from seed, but it is more practical to obtain some as seedlings in cell-packs or six-packs. Because only a few individual plants of tomato, pepper and eggplant are needed, and because they take a bit of work to grow from seed, it is more practical to invest slightly more than a dollar for a six-pack of small seedlings than to invest about the same in a package of superfluous seed. Of course, if you actually require 30 or so tomato plants, then it might be more practical to buy seed.

Because tomato, pepper and eggplant, as well as seed-grown beans, cucumbers, squash and melons, produce all season, they are only planted once at the beginning of the season. If they haven't been planted yet, they should be soon. Melon and squash plants may be grown either from seed or seedlings. Only a few are necessary, but they just grow so easily from seed! Beans and cucumbers are grown from seed not only because it is so easy, but also because seedlings are too easily damaged during transplant and because more than just a few plants are usually desired.

Like many of the cool-season vegetables that only produce once instead of through the season, corn should be planted in small groups at subsequent times during the season. As the first groups finish production, subsequent groups will begin production. Because corn needs to be pollinated to set fruit, it may be more productive if planted in compact formation instead of in rows.

Glenna of Cupertino wrote to ask about soaking vegetable seed in water to hasten germination prior to planting, as is done where the growing season is not as extensive. This procedure actually only hastens germination by about the same amount of time that the seeds are soaked and necessitates the planting of soaked seed that would otherwise not be so perishable. If properly irrigated after being sown, seed is naturally "soaked" by moisture within the soil of the garden and will germinate as readily as previously soaked seed.

She also inquired about eggplant. I am unfortunately embarrassed to say that I have never been proficient at growing it. I think it prefers warmer weather and is not very productive in the locally mild summer weather. Large fruited varieties may produce very few fruit. However, Glenna's eggplants have been remarkably productive, particularly the smaller fruited varieties. Oh, and yes, Glenna—eggplant are fruit, as they contain seed. Likewise, tomato, pepper and squash, for example, are also fruit. "Vegetables" are vegetative plant parts without seed, such as beets (yum!), carrots (ick!) and cabbage.

'Tree' of the Week: Pencil tree

Ms. Maria Mow's third-grade class at Robert Louis Stevenson School created a garden for the exhibit of Dirt Mama's Li'l Gardeners at the recent San Francisco Flower & Garden Show that included a rare specimen of pencil tree, Euphorbia tirucalli. In milder coastal areas of Southern California, pencil tree may be as tall as 20 feet when mature, but it is usually grown as a houseplant locally. Most specimens have a few trunks. Supportive limbs of large specimens are somewhat distended. Smaller succulent stems are pale green and about as thick as a pencil.

Bloom is not remarkable if seen at all, and the plant lacks foliage. It is difficult to believe that pencil tree is related to poinsettia! It prefers very bright ambient light or even complete exposure if not previously sheltered. Irrigation should not be so frequent that soil is constantly moist. If occasionally fertilized, "foliar" color of stems may be slightly darker green.

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