Look around your neighborhood for beautiful fall foliage and you'll notice that one of the loveliest trees is the Persimmon. Once those beautiful leaves drop, the bonus is the orange fruit hanging like ornaments on the branches. Persimmons are great garden plants as well as good producers. They are pretty much pest free and well adapted to our area. When considering an edible landscape, put a persimmon at the top your list! Now is the time to order these trees for your own garden of eatin'.

Many people are familiar with the Hachiya variety, the one that needs to get really ripe and soft before eating. This is the variety that hangs on the tree long after the foliage--large, bright orange and pointed on the bottom. Hachiya is the persimmon that is used for cookies, breads, and other desserts. I like to freeze them whole, stand them on their trimmed stem end, cut them into quarters (but not all the way through), then drizzle a little maple syrup over them for a tasty frozen treat! One variation on this is to drizzle a fruit infused balsamic vinegar (pomegranate is really good) over them and yet another variation is to drizzle a liqueur over them (try Chambord). They look lovely and taste even better.

Becoming more popular with Westerners every year are the Fuyu persimmons, also called apple persimmons. They are smaller and flat at top and bottom. They are eaten crunchy like an apple without a trace of the pucker power of a firm Hachiya. They are harvested earlier than Hachiyas so aren't quite the garden show, but they make up for it with their versatility. They can be used for pretty much anything that calls for apples, and are prized for use in salads. They make an amazing Waldorf salad. But salads are really only the beginning. One of my favorite uses is with pork chops and onions. Yum! They are also great for stuffing either pork chops or a pork tenderloin, as well as a delicious stuffing for game hens.

You may have guessed correctly that I have one of each in my own garden of eatin'. If I run out of freezer space, I also dry them. Hachiyas turn out almost like a fruit roll-up while Fuyus are like dried apples. Toss the dried ones into a rice dish with dried cranberries for a festive dish. Fruit and nut curries make a satisfying cold weather vegetarian meal. Once your trees start bearing, you'll be amazed at how many dishes can be enhanced with persimmons. Order yours now! The trees will start arriving in January. Let Yamagami's Nursery Pros help you plan an edible landscape. Eat local and fresh - grow your own!

Many enthusiastically consider the camellia "Queen of the Garden," especially while roses are quietly resting. Ok, so our roses don't begin to rest until we forcefully, but (of course) sadly, decide that we must cut them back in January. Luckily for us, beginning in September and continuing into the spring, Camellias bring elegant floral form and color into our gardens. They are wonderful in the garden as a patio tree and single focal point, en masse, or as a container plant. Camellias have beautifully rich, green shiny foliage so that even when not in bloom, they contribute to the beauty of a garden year round. Camellias are also relatively pest and disease free. What more could you want?

The two most popular groups of camellias are Camellia sasanqua and Camellia japonica. Camellia sasanqua blooms from September through December. They have smaller flowers and leaves, and, depending on the variety, will grow in full sun to deep shade. Camellia japonicas bloom January through May. They have larger leaves and flowers. These camellias prefer to be planted in dappled shade.

If you are looking for a way to add some color to your garden in the winter, consider sasanqua camellias. They produce an attractive show of flowers from fall into winter. With bright glossy green leaves and interesting growth habits they are a "must" for your winter garden.

Sasanqua Camellias can be planted in containers or flower beds with equal success. This allows you to place them on patios and decks, or near walkways for greater enjoyment. They can also be used for bonsai specimens, espaliers, informal hedges, screens or graceful focal points in the garden. They are ideal for many hard-to-plant shade areas.

Their natural growth is either upright, a graceful willow-like form, or low and spreading. Flower shapes range from single, semi-double, or fully double flowers and can be small or medium in size. They bloom in shades of pink, rose, red, white, and combinations.

There are many bloom types to consider when choosing your Camellia japonica: anemone, rose, single, formal double, peony, and more. The flowers range in size from medium to large to very large. Both the C. japonica and C. sasanqua offer many choices of varieties. When choosing varieties, consider not only bloom form and color but also bloom time. You can have camellias blooming from September into May with a well thought out selection.

Follow Yamagami’s Camellia, Azalea, and Rhododendron Planting Guide for guaranteed success, even in our clay soils! All the products you need are available as a "kit" for savings and convenience. We also offer a Container Planting Guide. Let one of our knowledgeable Nursery Pros help you succeed with these cool season garden queens.

Get ready for winter planting by early ordering your roses and fruit trees. Don't forget that both make great Christmas presents too!

Roses are scheduled to start arriving the week before Christmas and the fruit trees in January. Every year we run out of certain varieties, no matter how carefully we plan. Get your orders in early to ensure you get the treasures you want for your garden!

There are quantity discounts for both roses and fruit trees: 10% off orders of any 3 or more, 15% off any 5 or more, and 20% off any 10 or more.

We offer FREE planting guides for roses and fruit trees for guaranteed success and planting kits at $14.97 that include the supplies you need to succeed. Remember, it's Yamagami's Nursery when you want to succeed...the first time!

Click here to view our 2010 Rose Catalog and here for our 2010 Fruit Tree Catalog.

Yamagami's has just received a fresh shipment of a dozen different varieties of certified organic seed potatoes from Irish Eyes. We offer seed potatoes in a rainbow of colors including red, white, blue and yellow. We even have the "fingerlings" found in finer dining. The flavor of freshly dug potatoes far surpasses that of grocery store spuds.

Potatoes are easy to grow and very prolific. You can grow them in the ground, in containers and on top of the ground in raised beds. Pick up a copy of our FREE Growing Potatoes Guide for complete instructions. If you don't dig digging, the absolute easiest way is using the Gardman Potato Bag. It is easy to plant and very easy to harvest a little at a time so you don't have to unpot it all at once. This is a great family project.

Yamagami's offers the following varieties:

• All Blue
• All Red
• Butterfinger
• Cal White
• Dark Red Norland
• French Fingerling
• Red Gold
• Red LaSoda
• Rose Fin Apple
• Russet Norkotah
• Russian Banan
• Yukon Gold

Let our knowledgeable Nursery Pros help you grow your own organic produce! We are here to help you succeed...the first time!

• The Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving feast, in 1621, lasted three days.
• On October 3, 1863 Abraham Lincoln issued a "Thanksgiving Proclamation" that made the last Thursday in November a national holiday.
• In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt changed Thanksgiving to the third Thursday in November, in order to make the Christmas shopping season longer and thus stimulate the economy. Two years later, he changed it to the fourth Thursday.
• In 1941, Thanksgiving was finally sanctioned by Congress as a legal holiday, on the fourth Thursday in November.
• There were no mashed potatoes at the first Thanksgiving dinner--potatoes were brought here later, by Irish immigrants.
• Turkeys were one of the first animals in the Americas to be domesticated.
• Benjamin Franklin thought the turkey a noble bird and wanted it to be the national bird of America, rather than the eagle!
• Native Americans used the red juice of the cranberry to dye rugs and blankets.
• The pilgrims didn't use forks; they used spoons, knives and their fingers, so if anyone objects to your picking up that drumstick--tell them you are simply practicing traditional American table manners!

Thursday, November 26th
Yamagami's Nursery is closed to celebrate Thanksgiving.

Friday, November 27th
Yamagami's Nursery Christmas tree lot opens!
Place your advance orders by November 22 and save 10%!

Call us at 408 252-3347 to reserve your perfect tree.

Thursday, December 24th, Yamagami’s Nursery is closing at 2 PM and will remain closed for the holidays until Saturday, January 2nd, when we will be open from 9 AM to 5 PM.

Happy Holidays everyone!