When the arboretum landscape was less mature and more space was available, proliferation of vegetables and flowers exceeded our ability to care for them. I found that we need not maximize our production of flowers and vegetables simply because we can. Tall cosmos that perhaps should have been staked were unable to stand up against occasional breezes. Tomato vines without cages sprawled over broad areas so that about a third of the fruit matured on the ground and became rotten. Less is more and is certainly easier to maintain when warm midsummer weather causes formerly complaisant annuals, perennials and even fruit trees to become considerably more demanding.

A tree-ripened peach is one of the most gratifying rewards for a happy garden. Five tree-ripened peaches are even better. Two dozen or so is ideal, but much more should be shared with neighbors, friends or a food bank (if the peaches are not too ripe and perishable). However, after everyone has received his share and all the canning and freezing are complete, leaving fruit on the ground where it falls from the tree is not an option. Rotting peaches as well as apricots, nectarines, plums, prunes, pluots and cherries attract flies and sustain fungal diseases like brown rot.

"Vegetable fruits" can potentially but rarely present similar problems. Surplus tomatoes are more easily shared or canned so are not as overwhelming, but may be unsightly if left in the garden. Surplus zucchini may be obscured by healthy foliage as it becomes distended and inedible but diverts resources from more desirable newly developing fruit.

Summer flowers are now becoming prolific, as spring flowers are finishing. Cosmos and gladioluses probably do not require staking, but either can become destabilized if exposed to breezes. Gladioluses are particularly susceptible if the corms had been planted too shallowly or if flowers are remarkably large and heavy. Tall delphiniums and large blooming dahlias are more reliant on stakes. Spent bloom of the various species of irises should be pruned out, and crowded rhizomes should be divided. Some irises are so prolific and so regularly divided that their rhizomes are shared like surplus peaches.

Garden enthusiasts who prefer to select favored varieties of irises instead of growing surplus from the neighbors' gardens should attend the Clara B. Rees Iris Society's annual rhizome sale. Located in spaces C29­30 of Lot B in the De Anza Flea Market, the annual rhizome sale runs from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Aug. 8. More information about the Clara B. Rees Iris Society will be available at this event.

Flower of the Week: Dahlia

Dahlias really enjoy warm summer weather. The first blooms may appear as early as late spring and are followed by more profuse secondary bloom that may continue until frost. In colder climates, the dormant tuberous roots are dug and stored during winter, but in the Santa Clara Valley, dahlias only need to be dug and divided during winter as "clumps" become crowded or to maximize propagation.

The hundreds of hybrids now available exhibit a very broad range of floral color and floral structure. Bedding dahlias, which are most commonly grown as annuals, may be less than a foot tall, but taller cultivars may be taller than 6 feet.

Most of the larger dahlias are planted as dormant tubers during winter, but blooming specimens may be planted during summer. Bedding dahlias are more commonly planted while blooming in cell- or six-packs, 4-inch pots or gallons. Inferior soil is usually sufficient if it drains well. Regular irrigation and full sun exposure encourages the most profuse bloom.

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