By Carolyn Villa-Scott, Master Fruit Taster

Have a difficult time finding certain fruit trees? Maybe it’s a Blue Damson Plum or a Belle de Boskoop Apple that you want but no one seems to stock. Well, you can order those and many other lesser-seen treats through Yamagami’s Special Order Fruit Tree (SOFT) program. From now until November 6th you can order almost any fruit tree that Dave Wilson Nursery grows. Normally we have to order our fruit trees in bundles of 10, but for this program we (meaning you), can order one of any variety they offer. We also will publish our own Fruit Tree Catalog of Dave Wilson trees that we will offer in paper pots. Trees ordered through the SOFT program will arrive BARE-ROOT (not in paper pots) in January. There are many benefits to ordering them through the SOFT program but one drawback, too.

Benefits are:
• You can choose varieties that we do not carry otherwise. Usually this is because there is not enough demand or we’ve chosen a similar variety instead.
• You can choose from a variety of rootstocks. For people with special situations like Oak-Root Fungus, this is especially helpful.
• Trees ordered through the SOFT program are considerably less expensive.

Drawback:
• SOFT program trees arrive bare-root and must be planted or heeled-in IMMEDIATELY, no matter what the weather or soil condition. Since they often arrive during nasty weather, this can be a real hassle.

For many intrepid souls though, the benefits far outweigh the drawback, and the SOFT Program makes a lot of sense. Pick up an order form in the nursery or click below to download a SOFT Order form. Sorry, but we are not yet set up to process orders online. Orders can be placed over the phone (408) 252-3347 or here in the nursery. All orders must be placed and pre-paid by November 6th. Rootstock information and description of varieties can be viewed at www.davewilson.com or here at the Info Center. I will be talking about the SOFT Program and answering questions on Saturday, September 16 at 2 PM. SOFT orders placed before October 9 will receive a 30% discount! Take advantage of this chance to get the fruit tree you really want!

[Click here to download SOFT Order Form]

Kathy Anberg started working at Yamagami’s Nursery in 1987, mostly making moss baskets and creating container gardens. She had previously worked at two fine nurseries in the area, Cupertino Nursery and Nakagawa’s Nursery, where she earned Advanced California Certified Nursery Pro status. She has worked part-time and on and off as her two sons grew up and the family moved to Japan for a while. Now both of her sons are off to college, Cal Poly Pomona and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, and Kathy will have more time here to help you succeed with your garden.

When not at work, Kathy is a real horsewoman, riding English twice a week and occasionally Western too. She maintains a plot in a local community garden and is familiar first hand with the trials and triumphs of gardening here. Kathy has also been active in her sons’ school libraries as well as the Campbell Public Library.

Kathy’s Advance Certification is in Insect, Disease and Weeds and she is very good at identification of problems. When she doesn’t recognize a problem she does the research to figure it out. She also stays current with what treatments are available. Kathy can often be found at the Info Center cheerfully sharing her experience and dispensing advice. Look for her on your next visit and say hi.

It’s been hot and dry and the garden looks a bit parched. Mean-while, the spider mite party never ends.

Thriving in the hot, dry dregs of summer, a spider mite infestation may not be apparent on your plants until it's thriving, since the little beasts generally live on the underside of leaves. If your plant's leaves turn yellow, then crumple and fall off, you could have a mite problem. Look for tiny red dots on the leaves' undersides.

Spider mites also weave telltale webs at the stem crotches of plants. An easy way to spot these webs is by spraying your plants with water in the early morning. The muted sunlight helps to highlight the webs. If you spot webs, try using a Bug Blaster to give your affected plants a good solid blast. The mites' party will be all wet. Spider Mite webbing is much finer than that of a regular garden spider. If you are not sure what you see, bring a few leaf samples to the Info Center for diagnosis.

To keep spider mites at bay, try to make sure your plants are well cared for as mites tend to attack plants in stress. In the heat of summer, make sure you are watering infrequently but deeply, mulching bare soil and not over-fertilizing. Regular dowsing with a Bug Blaster helps keep dust off and mites away from your susceptible plants.

If an infestation gets out of hand, remove the most mite-populated and damaged leaves and spray with Ortho Systemic Insect Control to send the spider mite party packing.

Mojito lovers rejoice! We’ve just received a fresh shipment of spearmint (Mentha spicata). Maybe it’s because of the heat we’ve had this summer, or maybe just because they are so refreshing, Mojitos have become the entertaining cocktail of choice. We call it Mojito Madness as we’ve been inundated with requests for Mojito Mint, AKA spearmint. Mojitos are a Cuban drink made from fresh mint, lime juice, sugar, rum, and club soda. There are lots of recipes out there and Bacardi has devoted a website to them. One thing all recipes agree upon is that you must use fresh mint. Luckily spearmint is very easy to grow! In fact, it is so vigorous we usually recommend growing it in containers so that it won’t run through the entire garden. Of course using it often means pruning it often, which is a good way to keep it in check. So rumba your way in to pick up Mojito mint for your own garden. Oh, and by the way, we also offer lime trees.