Nov 16, 2007

Around the IndustrySource: Various

Terra Nova Nurseries Celebrates 15th Birthday

Happy B-day Terra Nova Nurseries! The perennial plant breeding company celebrated its 15th birthday on Oct. 15. Terra Nova has grown from a backyard breeding project to over 15 acres of trial beds, greenhouses, gardens, and a recently completed laboratory for research and production of millions of the newest plants in the marketplace.

Accomplishments to date:

• Introduction of more than 500 new plants to horticulture.
• Terra Nova has applied for more than 354 patents, both domestic and international.
• The company’s lab team has cracked the code for numerous genera in tissue culture.
• The colorful and creative catalog has become an industry standard.
• New ground was broken in 1999 when Terra Nova enclosed a CD with its catalog.
• 2006 saw the industry’s first DVD with videos and high-resolution photography.
• The company’s highly merchandised website has been hailed top of the line in horticultural surveys.
• Every year, hundreds of national Garden Writers receive trial plants for evaluation.

For more information, visit www.terranovanurseries.com.

Ball Announces Seed Vial Return Program

Ball Horticultural Co. is extending the life of its seed vials through a new empty vial return program. The program encourages customers to return empty seed vials to the company to be cleaned and reused for future packaging, offering a sustainable solution for growers who want an environmentally responsible way to dispose of their empty vials.

Customers will receive informational sheets with details of the new empty vial return program in all original U.S. seed orders beginning Nov. 12, 2007.

Here are some key points of the program:

• Customers should simply call Ball at (800) 879-BALL to start the empty vial return process.
• Ball will pay for return shipments of 70 or more vials from customers in the United States (the program is only available in the United Sates at this time).
• The program applies to Ball vials only.
• Vials should be empty; each vial should have a cap or lid in order to be reused.
• Labels placed on vials by customers should be removable.

For more information, call (800) 879-BALL.