A Day in the Life…

The 2008 GWA Symposium in Portland was truly a memorable experience. Great weather, great plants, and great friends is a tough combination to top. I especially enjoyed my visit to Terra Nova Nurseries. What a treat it was to spend the afternoon amidst the horticultural wonders of Terra Nova Nurseries and Dan Heims. The gardens and greenhouses were filled with so many delightful plants; I do not know where to begin.

I was particularly impressed with Terra Nova Nurseries' vast collection of heuchera. Shade or sun, purple or chartreuse, 'Southern Comfort' or 'Peach Flambé,' there was certainly a heuchera for every taste. Thanks to the folks at Terra Nova Nurseries, gardeners are no longer limited by zone to enjoy these diverse beauties because many heuchera from Terra Nova are now bred to thrive in the heat and humidity – a very unique quality in these good-looking foliage plants. My favorite heuchera had to be the 'Amethyst Myst,' which I can now happily grow in my home city of Atlanta.

Check out the purple metallic tones of the 'Amethyst Mist'

Heuchera may have stolen the show but another somewhat
"aristocratic" plant stood its ground. The fiery red, green-veined Begonia 'Madame Queen' was a marvelous new variety. What’s a queen without a poodle? I am not sure but, the Echinacea 'Pink Poodle' was quite stunning with double blooms that make it a first of its kind.

Terra Nova Nurseries is a magical place, and I am looking forward to my next visit.

With all the breakthroughs in tissue culture and breeding; what will Terra Nova Nurseries think of next?

~Adam

Schmoozing with Raw Fish

Some of my absolute favorite (yes, it deserves the bold!) hours during our trip to OFA were spent in an adorable little sushi restaurant named Haiku where Eberly PR hosted a media dinner for a few of our clients and some of our favorite members of the industry media!

I’m telling you; it’s hard to go wrong when you combine awesome people with delicious food and a few drinks. :)

What a blast! We were able to enjoy a lovely evening with industry leaders such as Dan Heims, Ken Brown and Dave Doolittle from Terra Nova Nurseries, Bob Lovejoy from Horticultural Identification Products (HIP), and Tom Kegley and Kim Cameron from Novalis Plants that Work / Plants that Work by Color.

Several of our trade media friends also attended such as Delilah Onofrey, Kevin Yanik and Sue Distaulo from Meister Media Worldwide, Ellen Wells and Jen White from Ball Publishing, Paige Worthy, Jasmina Radjevic and Darhiana Mateo from Scranton Gillette, and Meshele Conley from Garden Design!

What I learned at dinner:

• We can all eat way, WAY too much food when we aren’t paying attention. I really don’t know where we fit it all.
• Sue, Don, Jen, and Jasmina don’t like to wait for their dessert! They went straight for the Key-lime martinis.
• Paige and Dan knew each other in a different life. Nothing else explains all the uncanny similarities!
• We know how to close down a restaurant!

And, remember everyone – this is an annual event, so keep your calendars open for next year! For those clients and media members who did not join us, we hope you can make it next time.

~Leslie

The Time Warp with Terra Nova Nurseries!

So, for those of you who passed by the Terra Nova Nurseries booth, you may have noticed a couple of themes – the past and the future!

Revealing a unique marketing spin with cleverly-edited, 70’s album covers on their catalog and bright shag carpets throughout their booth, Terra Nova Nurseries showed off their newest plant introductions for 2009.

Some of the plants to look forward to in the upcoming year from Terra Nova and their grower- and garden center customers:

• Agastache ‘Cotton Candy’
• Begonia ‘Curly Fireflush’
• Echinacea ‘Tomato Soup’
• Echinacea ‘Mac ‘n’ Cheese’
• Echinacea ‘Pink Poodle’
• Heuchera ‘Plum Royale’
• Heucherella ‘Tapestry’
• Tiarella ‘Mystic Mist’

Just goes to show you – Without fun, inspirational pasts, we have nothing to build the industry innovations of the future!

What inspires you?

~Leslie

Going Container Crazy

Dan Heims, Terra Nova Nurseries president and co-owner, treated OFA attendees to an early morning, information-packed presentation titled Container Crazy (and Plants for Small-Space Gardens) on July 13. There were a lot of workshop participants (including myself) taking plenty of notes as Dan breezed through a selection of photos that showed how cool and creative container plants can be when you add a healthy dose of imagination to the plan. A few highlights from his presentation:

• The new trend: there might not be a set trend; if it looks good to you, do it.
• Container plants don’t have to reside in traditional-looking ceramic pots; think outside the norm and consider troughs, cupcake pans (yes!), picture frames and funky metal sculptures.
• Dan reminded us there are still three key ingredients in the recipe for a good container planting: the thriller, the spiller and the filler.
• Euro-style containers often offer a smooth, architectural presentation.
• When selecting plants for a container, remember to pick plants that play well with others.

While Dan took us through a good number of plants during his slide show, there were several plants that I absolutely loved including the Begonia ‘Madam Queen’ (Pictured), Corydalis ‘Berry Exciting’, Eucomis ‘Oakhurst’, and Tricyrtis ‘Gilty Pleasure’. You can check out each of these plants on the Terra Nova Nurseries Web site at www.terranovanurseries.com.

We thought we’d share a photo of some of us from EPR with Dan following the session – from R to L: Dan, Leslie, Don, Jeff, and me.

Do you have a favorite container plant or a unique container idea? Feel free to post your comments below and let us know!

~ Audrey

A Man Who Needs No Introduction… But We Are Doing it Anyway.

With 32 years of experience in the horticulture industry and a bachelor’s degree in communications and botany from the University of Oregon, Dan Heims researches, speaks, writes, and stands at the forefront of the horticulture industry as president of Terra Nova Nurseries, Inc., a company praised for innovative, new plant introductions. Over the past 13 years, Terra Nova Nurseries has grown to become a world leader in plant breeding introducing over 460 exciting new varieties to the global market. Heims has been an integral part of the company’s growth and success from the very beginning.

As an educator, Heims is known as a knowledgeable enthusiast in all things horticulture. He has spent years lecturing all over the world, including the United States, Japan, England, New Zealand, Costa Rica, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Switzerland, Tasmania, Australia, and Canada. From breeding to growing, Heims teaches people about his experiences in the industry.

Dan Heims will be leading several speaking engagements throughout the remainder of June and into July – come by and join in!

• Wisconsin Hardy Plant Society “WHPS Meeting” on June 17, 2008. The lecture will be at the Janesville, WI, Monoria Community Center at 7 p.m.

• My Garden Nursery “Heuchera and their Allies” on June 28, 2008. Heims will speak on “Heuchera Happening” in Mill Creek, WA from 5:30 p.m. to 6 p.m.

• OFA “Plants for Containers (and Small Space Gardens)” on July 12, 2008. Heims will give two lectures at the Columbus, OH, tradeshow, including a panel discussion on “What it takes to make it in horticulture.”

• Perennial Plant Association “New Plant Introductions” on July 24, 2008. This annual presentation is given at the convention in Columbus, OH, announcing nine of the newest Terra Nova Nurseries varieties.

~ Leslie