The All-America Rose Selection committee is a non-profit association of rose growers and introducers dedicated to the introduction and promotion of exceptional roses. AARS operates a nationwide network of 20 official test gardens located throughout the country which represent all climate zones in the U.S.

New rose varieties in the AARS trials are grown and monitored for two years, receiving only as much care as would be given in the average home garden. This sophisticated evaluation process results in a new crop of AARS winning roses each year, guaranteeing that only the best make it into your garden. The winners for 2008 are 'Dream Come True' and 'Mardi Gras.'

'Dream Come True' is a stunning grandiflora with catchy colors that will lure the likes of even non-rose lovers to its side. This rose produces flawlessly formed yellow blossoms, blushed with ruby-red at the tips, all set among abundant matte-green foliage. The big, bushy vigorous plant yields long-stemmed, long-lived blooms with mild tea fragrance, making it lovely in the landscape and a great choice for bouquets.

'Mardi Gras' creates a festive atmosphere with flamboyant blooms in a novel blend of pink, orange, and yellow, and a delightful peppery scent. Each high-centered hybrid tea-style bloom on this floribunda begins as an apricot-orange bud that slowly spirals open to reveal a 4-inch bright pink and orange bloom with a yellow base. The colorful blooms are perfectly framed on an upright, columnar-branched plant with dark green, semi-glossy foliage.

These two selections are two of the most beautiful selections to be introduced in quite some time. We invite you to come in and see all of the new selections we are stocking for the 2008 rose season.

You can PRE-ORDER your roses before November 30th and save an additional 10% off the bare root prices!

Popular years ago, indoor plants are making a huge comeback. Their lush, green foliage can truly perk up a dreary interior environment and can be a beautiful addition to any home or office. Not only are they attractive to look at, but indoor plants also convert the carbon oxide that we breathe out into oxygen, thereby refreshing our indoor surroundings.

Most indoor plants are hybrids that grow wild somewhere in the world. The key to successfully growing plants indoors is to replicate the environment they naturally grow in. The main factors are location, lighting, water, humidity, and feeding. A few minutes of care each week help your plants flourish, providing years of enjoyment.

Bright windowsills are a perfect location for a number of indoor plants to thrive and help chase the winter blues away. (Just make sure to move them in the summer if the area receives direct afternoon sun.) Rotate each container after a few days so that all parts of your plants get an even amount of sunlight.

As a rule of thumb, keep the soil moist but not soaking wet. Ensure that the pot has good drainage for excess water. Too much water locked in the pot rots the roots. Most indoor environments are dry and have little humidity. So, use a mister to spray water on the leaves on very dry days. You can also place your pots on containers full of pebbles. Pour water in the container often. This will hydrate your plants from the bottom.

Even though indoor plants tend to grow much more slowly than they would outdoors in their natural environments, they still require an infusion of nutrients throughout the year. We recommend using a balanced plant food such as Sea All Purpose Water Soluble Fertilizer every 2- 4 weeks.

Indoor plants add color and can dramatically cheer up a home or office, especially during the dog days of winter.

We invite you visit us and pick up a few of these gems today!

Street trees give us shelter from the wind, privacy from the roads, and shade from the sun--and at the same time add diversity to our yards. Without them our streets and neighborhoods would be much less attractive and comfortable. Street trees are a vital part of every town or city's infrastructure, contributing energy savings, filtering storm water runoff and enhancing property values.

When planting a street tree, consider the particular site where the tree will be planted. Ask these five questions before you select and plant your tree:

1. What is the ground width between the street and the sidewalk?
2. Are above- or below-ground utilities present?
3. Will the tree growth interfere with street signs or lighting?
4. What is the soil type of the site?
5. Is water readily available or will it have to be brought to the tree?
6. Does the city have an approved list of street trees for your neighborhood?

Taking time to answer these questions will help prevent headaches later. Trees planted in the wrong sites will uplift sidewalks, become tangled in power lines, obstruct throughways, and become unhealthy and unattractive over the years. Matching the right tree to your particular site is the best way to guarantee its success.

We stock a great selection of shade trees for most street settings along with the products you need for planting, including root barriers, stakes and tree ties. As with all recommendations, you might check with your local city planning office and also inquire if a permit is required before planting. Many local communities have an approved Master Street Tree Plan that you must follow.

No matter what, choose a tree you will care for and appreciate and enjoy for its unique characteristics. Once planted, make maintaining your tree a top priority. Healthy trees add to the beauty of your yard and improve the quality of the environment not only for people, but also for birds and animals.

As always, our staff of nursery professionals is available to help you make the right selection for your home.

One of the great mistakes many people make in Mediterranean-style landscape design is to incorporate plants that don't blend in with their natural surroundings. To make matters worse, the home owner (or the home owner's gardener) then prunes everything perfectly round or, worse yet, in geometric shapes--giving their home the look of a stage set from the movie Edward Scissorhands.

A house needs to connect with its natural surroundings to feel truly at home. With a little planning you can select the right plants to not only blend your home with the wilder landscape around it but also to create a garden that stands up to the sun and also reflects the best that its rays have to offer. The key is to soften plants with formal growing habits by pairing them with free-formed shrubs, perennials and grasses.

Most Mediterranean designs use Italian cypress, arborvitae, boxwood, laurel or yew (Taxus) to define the garden and give it some stature. Now consider house or garden walls that might be softened with the addition of a clinging vine such as Boston ivy or creeping fig. You could also incorporate grape vines on arbors, fences or pergolas.

The next thing to do is introduce motion to your garden with the addition of ornamental grasses. Start with a few closer in the foreground and then consider planting groups of three or more as you move farther out. Ornamental grasses change with the season just like the ones that cover the hills, making them great transitional plants. They are wonderful at reflecting sunlight and many have attractive showy plumes that add another shape to the garden. Consider varieties such as Kalamagrostis 'Carl Foerster,' Miscanthus, switch grass (Panicum), green or red fountain grass (Pennisetum), or feather grass (Stipa).

To give the garden some more visual punch, plant flowering perennials that you might expect to find in a field, such as agastache, aster, coreopsis, gaillardia, geranium (species), lavender, rudbeckia, salvia, and veronica. For some extra color and movement also consider tall stemmed daylilies and statice (Limonium).

Finally, for real standout color, consider adding roses to the landscape. You could create a formal hedge using a pure white rose, or just plant roses randomly throughout the landscape and let them blend in. Roses look great in Mediterranean gardens because it is natural to see roses at the end of grapevine rows throughout Tuscany.

To help conserve water, make sure to cover your planted areas with some type of decorative mulch, such as redwood, cedar or coir mulch. To complete the look of your sun garden, consider adding a small-scale fountain water feature and some empty decorative glazed containers. These will add style and form to the garden as well as reflect additional sunlight, sending rays of light throughout your new garden.

We will be returning to Standard Time on November 4th. Remember to set your clocks back one hour Sunday the 4th, at 2 am. Or set them early and enjoy that extra hour of sleep!

Smoke detector batteries should be changed yearly; the change to Standard Time is also a great time to change the batteries in your smoke detectors. Properly functioning smoke detectors save thousands of lives every year.

Steve was born in Bakersfield, raised in Los Gatos. In 2nd grade he broke his Catholic school's strict dress code by not wearing a belt, and was promptly banished to playing hopscotch with the girls. When he moved in 3rd grade, the same nun moved to his new school also to keep an eye on him. Ever the one with women, he eventually transformed the ruthless nun into liking him and he became her teacher's pet.

His closest brush with fame was having his picture taken with Willie Mays in Pony League. Not one to shy away from an adventure, Steve and his high school buddies snuck into the high school Ag-science department at night to ride the giant pig and were promptly thrown into the fence.

Steve has been in the nursery and landscape industry for the past 18 years, having previously managed another garden center in San Jose. He has been a part of our family for the past 9 years.

Steve loves to play golf and go fishing and camping. He once got a hole in one while playing golf, which he followed up by landing the "big one" on the banks of the Klamath River. (Neither episode has ever been documented). Steve lives in Redwood City with his best friend Jeanne.

"This week's featured recipe is from Joan Ryan, Jeni's step-mom.  This recipe is so easy and delicious and it's all done in the MICROWAVE!  This is a super easy weeknight recipe because it's so fast to put together and even picky eaters like this one!  This is also great to take to potlucks because you can cook it when you get there and it's a crowd pleaser."

What You'll Need:

• 1 tbsp butter or margarine
• ½ cup onion, chopped
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 1 cup sour cream
• ¼ tsp ground coriander
• ¼ tsp cumin
• 7 oz can green chilis, drained
• 9 tortillas, cut into bite size
• 2 ½ cups chicken, cooked and cubed
• 2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded or grated
• 2 cups Monterey Jack cheese, shredded or grated
• **optional**  jalapenos, ripe sliced olives

Step by Step:

1. Microwave butter and onion together for 2-4 minutes.  Stir in next 5 items (and optional items if you choose).  Layer remaining items and mixture in 2 quart casserole dish. 

2. Repeat layers except the last cheese layer (do not top with cheese yet--it's best if you end with mixture as the top layer). 

3. Microwave on full power 9-12 minutes, covered.  Removed and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top.  Cover and let stand 5 minutes, until cheese is melted.  Serve warm.