David Austin Roses, also known as English roses, represent the very best of old roses and the very best of the modern hybrids. David Austin has hybridized roses with the goal of combining old world fragrance and flower forms with the reblooming and disease resistance of modern hybrid roses. To say he has succeeded is such an understatement! Others are now also developing hybrids, but the Austin English roses are still the standard by which others are judged.  In 2009 Yamagami’s Nursery will be offering more varieties of David Austin Roses than ever before. 

Saturday, September 6th at 10 AM, Debbie Rembience of David Austin Roses LTD will be here to discuss David Austin (English) Roses and preview some of the newer varieties. You will have the opportunity to special order them as well as all the other David Austin English Roses we will be offering in the dormant season. 

Here is just a taste of the David Austins you’ll be able to order: 

'Gertrude Jekyll' has been around since1986 and is still one of our all time favorites. As dramatic as the garden designer for whom she is named, 'Gertrude Jekyll' is a rich glowing pink with an incredible fragrance. It makes a perfect pillar rose. 

Grace is a brand new introduction for 2009. We had a test rose here that many wanted to buy because of its non-stop display of apricot blossoms with a delicious fragrance.  

'The Generous Gardener', another new introduction, offers fragrant soft glowing pink blossoms that fade into a pale pink in the center. It is a climbing rose growing 8’ – 10’ tall. 

David Austin English Roses don’t need to be isolated in just a rose garden setting. They are perfect for borders or even large containers. For win, win roses with old-fashioned fragrance, plant David Austin English Roses. Let the Nursery Pros at Yamagami’s help you choose varieties for your garden.

From now though October 28, Yamagami’s is celebrating 60 years in business with a different sale item every day. Details of our Anniversary Celebration Sale will be on our website and in our newsletter September 18th. In addition to our daily special offers, every customer during those 60 days receives a raffle entry form for 60 fantastic raffle prizes. No purchase is necessary. You get to choose which prize you want to win. Frequent shoppers will have more entries, so take advantage of as many special offers as you can. 

All entries will be in the running for our grand prize: 

A Diamond Pendant is set in 14K white gold and on a 14K white gold chain. The breathtaking Diamond Pendant is on display at Vardy’s Jewelers at 10227 S. De Anza Blvd (cross street - Rodriguez) for the 60 days so you can admire it and gain garden shopping inspiration! Retail value of the Diamond Pendant is $2000!  

Come see all 60 of the exciting prizes you can win just by taking advantage of our Anniversary Celebration special offers! In our “Living Room” display are samples of many of the prizes and complete descriptions or photographs of all the rest. Prizes like Dinner for 2 at Sushi Kuni or a one hour Garden Consultation at your home are available. Shop, save and maybe win a fabulous prize!  

Click here to view the complete 60 day schedule for Yamagami's Nursery Celebration.

The Tomato Tasting on August 3rd was a big success! We had 44 varieties of tomatoes to taste, 6 varieties of peppers and at least 250 people tasting them. As promised, here is a summary of the results. Ratings went from 1 to 5 with a rating of 5 being the best.  

We figured anything rated over 4 was outstanding. Rated as outstanding were: 'Snow White Cherry' (4.13), 'Sun Gold' (4.19), and 'Sun Sugar' ( 4.27). These are all super sweet cherry types. We have not offered 'Snow White Cherry' before, so we will add it to our selection for 2009. 

Several tomatoes rated over 3.4 which we interpret as very good. These are: 'Cherokee Chocolate' (3.49), 'Cuban Yellow Grape' (3.99), 'Marvel Stripe' (3.54), 'Sun Cherry' ( 3.48), and 'Sweet Baby Girl' (3.56). Out of this group we have not offered 'Cuban Yellow Grape' or 'Cherokee Chocolate' before. Look for them next year! 

Pepper-wise, the 2 big winners were 'Thai Chile' (4.5) and 'Villancho' (4.57). We have offered 'Thai Chile' for years but this was a debut for 'Villancho'. It is a tasty ancho pepper hybridized by my father, Phil Villa (hence the name 'Villancho'). We will offer Villancho plants next year as a Yamagami’s exclusive!

Thank you everyone who helped us evaluate these varieties! For 2009 our Tomato Tasting is scheduled for August 9th. Hope to see you here!                  

Yamagami’s Nursery 60th Anniversary Celebration!

Enjoy 60 Days of fantastic values during
Yamagami's Nursery Anniversary Celebration. Look for details September 18th on our website YamagamisNursery.com and in our newsletter.

60 Days of Special Deals August 30th - October 28th

David Austin Rose Talk
with Debbie Rembience of David Austin Roses LTD.

Debbie will preview some of the newer David Austin  (English) Roses. You will have the opportunity to special order them as well as all the other David Austins we will be offering in the dormant season. These beauties combine the free flowering of modern roses with the forms and fragrance of old roses – win, win! FREE

Saturday, September 6th at 10 AM 

Bring Your Soil Back to Life: Organic Fertilizers and Soil Health Talk with Mike Castro of San Diego Organics, producers of Wormagic, EnviroGrow and BioSol.

Mike will make clear how soil health is a major factor in plant vigor. Learn how you can bring your soil back to life just in time for all your fall plantings. FREE

Saturday, September 20th at 10 AM and 2 PM;
Sunday, September 21st at 11 AM

Talk: Cooking from the Garden with Rosalind Creasy featuring her latest book Recipes from the Garden.

Best known for her book The Complete Book of Edible Landscaping, Rosalind is a dynamic speaker with lots of experience and accumulated wisdom. Don’t miss this chance to hear her speak and sign your books! FREE

Saturday, October 4th at 2 PM.

Giant Pumpkin Weigh-Off!

The grower of the largest pumpkin will win a gourmet dinner for four prepared by the professional chefs at Whole Foods Market in Cupertino! Anyone with a larger entry than our pumpkin will win a gift certificate. Radio personality and author Bob Tanem will be the judge. Come join the fun! FREE

Saturday, October 11th at 11 AM.  

Talk: Sweet Peas, Sugar Snap Peas and
Snow Peas for the Fall Garden
with Renee Shepherd of Renee’s Garden Seeds.

Learn the secrets of growing fragrant sweet peas and the tastiest cool season vegetables, all from seed! FREE

Saturday, October 18th at 11 AM

Talk: It’s for the Birds…Birdland! with local bird expert, Ellen Sinnott of L & L. Ellen will discuss the new bird seed and feeders in our Birdland display. Make your fine-feathered friends happy and healthy with superior birdseed and feeders! As part of Yamagami’s Anniversary Celebration, you can take 60% off one Birdland product that day! FREE

Sunday October 19th at 11 AM  

Talk: Fruit Trees for the Santa Clara Valley with local fruit guru, Nancy Garrison. Nancy can help you choose varieties for your home orchard including some less common ones. As part of Yamagami’s Anniversary Celebration, you can take 60% off one early-ordered (prepaid) fruit tree that day! FREE

Saturday, October 18th at 2 PM.

It’s been 15 weeks for our pumpkin patch and Brutus and Mighty Mabel are growing full speed ahead under the watchful eyes of Alan Tagami. He and he alone is allowed to feed and water them. We have had customers come in and tell us that their pumpkins are even bigger! Well, we’ll all find out at our Pumpkinmania Weigh-off on October 11th at 11 AM. 

The lucky grower of the heaviest pumpkin wins A Gourmet Harvest Dinner for four prepared by the professional chefs at Whole Foods Market in Cupertino! You may have that dinner served to you in a garden setting here in the nursery or delivered to your home! 

The weigh-off will be hosted by author and radio personality, Bob Tanem, America’s Happy Gardener. Gift Certificates will be awarded to every entrant whose pumpkin is larger than ours. (We, of course, will not be in the running for the grand prize.) Bring the kids and have some fun viewing Giant Pumpkins!