Young American Growers (YAG) was established in February of 2002. The business was purchased by Jay and Laura Young, a husband and wife team, from Dr. David Beattie (retired Professor of Floriculture at Penn State University), who operated under the name American Astilbes. Under his ownership, the nursery had been in existence for approximately 20 years and had focused on and succeeded in a niche market based on the sale of the genus Astilbe and a limited number of other shade tolerant perennials. Dr. Beattie saw an opportunity to answer one of the most frequently asked questions in gardening, "What can I plant that will flower in the shade?" He answered this question by developing a nursery specializing in Astilbe. Astilbe are perennials that are especially adapted to flower in shady environments. Dr. Beattie built a small but profitable business that supplies larger wholesale and retail growers. Under the new ownership of Jay and Laura Young, YAG specializes in the production of Astilbe, though as the new business name suggests, future plans include expansion of the product line into other genera, most likely beginning with an expansion of the growth of other shade perennials.
Having met at Penn State, both Jay and Laura have degrees in Horticulture. Laura graduated with a B.S. in December 1998 while Jay graduated with a M.S. in August of 2000. Jay also has a B.S. Biology ('95) from Wheaton College, Wheaton, IL.
Laura has worked at Smith's Greenhouses, a garden center in Hazleton, PA. While studying at Penn State she served as a research assistant and was published for some of her work. Occasionally she would work weekends at American Astilbes with Dr. David Beattie and Jay. After graduation, she interned at Longwood Gardens in Kennett Square, PA and then served as a horticulturist and gardener at the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum, on the Fenway in Boston, MA.
After graduating from Wheaton, Jay spent one year working on a landscape crew and as a garden center employee ('96) and then a baseball season as a groundskeeper with the Boston Red Sox ('97). While at Penn State he worked at a local tree farm as well as with Dr. David Beattie, owner of American Astilbes. After graduation, he worked at Blanchette Gardens, a perennial business and retailer in Carlisle, MA and then for a landscaping firm as an estate groundskeeper in Cohasset, MA.
From February 2001 through January 2002, Laura and Jay moved to Boskoop, The Netherlands and apprenticed at Rijnbeek and Son, a Dutch perennial grower and exporter. While there, they worked in nearly every phase of the operation (export, propagation, root cuttings, plant washing, order preparation) and visited as many other nurseries and related facilities as possible. This experience gave both of them invaluable perspective in both their choice of profession and their daily lives.
YAG currently grows on 20,000 sq. ft. and produces liners (4 and 2.5 inch pots) with over 60 varieties of Astilbe. YAG grows more than 100,000 Astilbe for customers across the country, with small numbers of a few other shade perennials including Epimedium, Ligularia and Polyganatum. YAG is working towards the expansion of the nursery to include other shade perennials, greater diversity in Astilbe, as well as field grown Astilbe.