While most other climbing vines bloom for just a short six to eight week window, you can count on climbing roses to provide you with blooms all season long. They also come in an array of incredible colors that few vines can match. While climbing roses aren't a true vine (they don't twine), they do produce long arching canes that can be easily tied to a trellis or tacked onto a fence with vine staples.

This year there are some wonderful new introductions that have been grown in test gardens for two years to make sure they have the hardiness, disease resistance and bloom production needed to be introduced into the market.

Candyland--Sizable hybrid tea-shaped blossoms of impetuous pink spun with creamy ivory yellow are carried in huge clusters on this very showy climber with gorgeous glossy foliage. It gives "eye candy" a whole new meaning! 25 petals

Lunar Mist--the old-fashioned soft creamy ivory-colored flowers on this climber will add a touch of elegance to any garden. This is a smaller climber that can also be grown as a large fountain-shaped bush. Very hardy plant. 50 petals

Winner's Circle--One of the most floriferous climbers ever produced, with spectacular fire engine red blooms that can take on the heat without fading. The hardy green foliage turns deep burgundy in the fall. 15 petals

Add to that, bright glossy green leaves and interesting growth habits and you have "a must" for your winter garden.

Sasanqua camellias can be planted in containers and in shrub and tree beds with equal success. This allows you to place them on patios, 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.

Their natural growth is either upright or a graceful willow-like form. Some have single, semi-double, or fully double flowers, that can be small, medium or rather large in size and they range in shades of pink, rose, red, white and combinations. Yuletide is a great variety for planting now as it is in bloom at Christmas and has great fire engine red blooms against nice glossy green foilage.

One of the outstanding characteristics of the sasanqua camellias is that they will tolerate more sun exposure than spring flowering types of camellias, therefore earning the name "sun camellias". Most varieties don't grow nearly as large as their cousins, enabling them to make perfect understory plants. Like all camellias, they need to be planted in locations with good drainage in a hole amended with an acid planting mix such as Gardner & Bloome Acid Planting Mix.

For a sneak peek of the varieties we stock, please click here.

Kumquats don't need to be peeled to enjoy, but rather can be eaten whole (skin and all). This allows one to savor the contrast of flavors like lime (limequats). The fruit is considered ripe when it reaches a yellowish-orange stage.

In addition being eaten fresh, kumquats can also be preserved in sugar syrup; they are often served as dessert in Chinese restaurants. For candying, the fruits are soaked in hot water with baking soda, cut open the next day and cooked briefly each day for 3 days in heavy syrup, then dried and sugared. Kumquats are excellent for making marmalade, either alone or combined with other citrus. Kumquat sauce is made by cooking chopped, seeded fruits with honey, orange juice, salt and butter.

The kumquat tree is slow-growing, shrubby and compact, reaching a maximum height of 6-10 ft. The glossy dark green foliage produces white flowers that are sweetly fragrant before setting the oblong fruit that normally ripens from late fall through mid winter. The fruit is showy particularly in the winter months when there is so little color. They make excellent container plants in addition to being planted in the garden.

We have a great selection of kumquats just waiting to find a new home. Once you try one of these tasty morsels you'll want one of your own. So come on down, have a taste, and take one home today!

Please click here to see our gallery of some kumquat and limequat varieties.

Rabbits will devour a wide variety of plant material, especially in the spring when young, succulent new growth is present. Small flowers and vegetables can be ripped right out of the ground and, other damage can be identified by chew marks on older woody growth, clean-cut clipping of young stems, and rabbits' distinctive round droppings.

What makes controlling rabbits so difficult is that they reproduce quickly and often. Although a rabbit's life expectancy is 12 to 15 months, they can produce up to four litters per year, with as many as six young per litter. The young are born in shallow nests in the ground but are able to leave the nest in two to four weeks.

Although baby bunnies can look cute when they are young, they will quickly establish their feeding patterns and favorite places to visit. Making matters worse is that most rabbits are random eaters, taking a nibble here and there every night until most of your landscape has been damaged.

While some people have success trapping rabbits using traps filled with carrots, fruits and other vegetables, the easiest way to control them is to make your garden undesirable with the use of repellants. We recommend a two-pronged approach that odorizes not only the soil but the plant foliage as well.

Dry soil-type repellants, such as Critter Ritter can be shaken out right onto the soil surface; we recommend applying around the garden perimeter. It is important to re-apply the repellents according to package directions until you have broken the feeding patterns of the rabbits. Signs to look for are new growth appearing on plants and a decrease in droppings.

Rabbits have many of the same plant tastes as deer, so another solution is to plant deer-resistant plants in your landscape.

Irene is a native of San Jose and enjoys traveling, dancing, gardening, and going with friends to comedy clubs.

As a child, Irene once led Operation Tadpole Rescue, saving as many "orphan" tadpoles from the local creek as her mother's Tupperware collection would hold. Her house soon became home to a budding reptilian ecosystem, and her parents spent many a sleepless night listening to a chorus of croaking and unwittingly sharing their beds with Irene's frogs and turtles.

Once out of high school, Irene went into Montessori School working as a teacher's aide.

Ever impulsive, Irene has been known to suddenly take off on long 12-hour drives to the country. In the winter, she enjoys Frisbee-sliding in the snow.

My staff and I look forward to serving you this year. We'll go out of our way to make your day!

Matt Lepow

This week's featured recipe is one of our FAVORITES! This recipe is from Matt's Mom, Mickey Lepow. The yams and apples are a tradition at every Lepow Thanksgiving. We personally think this is the best part of the meal! It's very easy to make so we hope you try it - you won't be sorry!

What You'll Need:

• 3 medium yams, boiled enough to peel
• 4 Granny Smith apples, sliced as for pie

Syrup:

• 4 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in 1 cup of water
• 4 oz. butter  
• ¾ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup sugar

Step by Step:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.