CANBY, Ore. – Terra Nova Nurseries, a world leader in plant breeding and genetics, today announced an update on its involvement with licensee Chongqing Tianmu Agriculture and the companies’ efforts to combat human-caused degradation in the Wuling Mountain range of Southwest China. Terra Nova Nurseries began working with Chongqing Tianmu in 2018 in an effort to remediate and improve an area of the Wuling Mountain range known as the Damu Flower Valley. Terra Nova’s plants were selected and planted in Damu Flower Valley because of their vegetative propagation and projected performance in the region.
The Damu Flower Valley was created to reinvigorate a rugged, remote and wooded area in the Wuling Mountains inadvertently damaged by human activity. The Terra Nova plants used in the valley continue to add value by showing their best colors years after being planted. The plants’ inclusion in various locations throughout the garden has helped rehabilitate the area once suffering from the massive dredging of wild medical plants and mushrooms. Terra Nova heuchera and begonia varieties planted in the Damu Flower Valley are especially thriving because of the large amount of shade offered by the mountain’s many trees.
“When working with Chongqing Tianmu Agriculture to decide which Terra Nova plants to use in the Damu Flower Valley, it was important to choose plants that were both beautiful and could be tolerant of cooler temperatures in the mountains,” said Kevin Chen, Asia sales representative for Terra Nova. “The Terra Nova plants we instructed Chongqing Tianmu to plant in the Damu Flower Valley over a year ago are happily growing and blooming for the entire summer and autumn seasons.”
Terra Nova sourced hundreds of plants for the Damu Flower Valley. These plants comprise numerous Terra Nova begonia, echinacea heuchera, heucherella, and kniphofia. Specific varieties planted include Begonia ‘First Blush’; Begonia ‘St. Nick’; Heucherella ‘Sweet Tea’; Heucherella ‘Gold Zebra’; Heucherella ‘Solar Eclipse’; Heucherella ‘Tapestry’; Heuchera ‘Shanghai’; Kniphofia ‘Papaya Popsicle’; Echinacea ‘Aloha’; and other strategic selections of Terra Nova plants.
These plants and the collaborative efforts of Terra Nova and Chongqing Tianmu have helped the Damu Flower Valley achieve the coveted 4A level national tourist site classification, and it has stopped further man-made sabotage to the mountainous area.
Damu Flower Valley was opened to the public in 2013 and has subsequently been open every year from May to October. It attracts more than 300,000 visitors each year and has become one of the region’s top tourist destinations in the summer. Terra Nova has been able to introduce many of its plants to the Chinese market by way of the Damu Flower Valley.
Learn more about Terra Nova Nurseries at www.terranovanurseries.com.
