Leading European private equity firm Terra Firma, owners of The Garden Centre Group, is sponsoring “101 Plants from China,” designed by Burncoose Nurseries, at the Chelsea Flower Show.
The British gardening public remains largely unaware that so many of the most popular everyday plants in Britain’s gardens were in fact first discovered only 100 or so years ago in Southern China and its historical outlying provinces.
“101 Plants from China” will showcase many plants which were brought to Britain by the great plant hunters Ernest Wilson, George Forrest and Frank Kingdom Ward who travelled to China after 1905 on often dangerous and difficult expeditions to collect seeds from new and unknown species of plants. The garden will be designed as a rocky Chinese ravine featuring the plants which the great British plant hunters would have seen for the first time.
Guy Hands, Chairman and Chief Investment Officer of Terra Firma, said: “It is wonderful to see so much rich history and personality poured into this garden design. The impact that China has had on gardening in Britain today is immense and surprisingly unknown. The Burncoose garden is a wonderful illustration of how many of today’s most common plants came from China to our shores and into our gardens.”
This year marks the 10th anniversary of Terra Firma and Burncoose Nurseries partnering for the Chelsea Flower Show. Terra Firma also has a longstanding relationship with The Prince’s Trust and uses its sponsorship at RHS Chelsea to support the work of the charity. This year’s Prince’s Trust Ambassador, Jerry Hall, will be visiting the Burncoose stand at Chelsea on Monday.
About Terra Firma
Founded by Guy Hands in 1994, Terra Firma is one of Europe’s leading private equity firms. Terra Firma specialises in the acquisition and fundamental transformation of asset-backed businesses in essential industries, focusing on investments in transformational private equity, operational real estate and infrastructure. Over the last 19 years, Terra Firma has invested over €16 billion of equity and completed transactions with an aggregate enterprise value of €45 billion. www.terrafirma.com
About Burncoose Nurseries
Burncoose Nurseries is one of the UK’s largest and most respected providers of top quality plants. Burncoose nursery is part of the Caerhays Estate which is managed by current owner, Charles Williams. The quality of Burncoose’s plants can be seen in the company’s long history of scooping gold medals from Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) shows. Burncoose employs its own exhibition team and attends major horticultural shows throughout the country – including Chelsea and Hampton Court. Burncoose Nurseries has been a regular at the RHS Chelsea Flower Show for more than 25 years, and has won 21 Gold medals and 10 Silver Gilt medals over the years. Most recently the Burncoose Nurseries’ ‘Gardens of Cornwall – A Mining Heritage Garden’ won Silver Gilt in 2012.
About The Prince’s Trust
The Prince's Trust supports 13- to 30-year-olds who are unemployed and those struggling at school and at risk of exclusion. Many of the young people helped by The Trust are in or leaving care, facing issues such as homelessness or mental health problems, or they have been in trouble with the law. The Trust’s programmes give vulnerable young people the practical and financial support needed to stabilise their lives, helping develop self-esteem and skills for work. Three in four young people supported by The Prince’s Trust move into work, education or training. The Prince of Wales’s charity has helped 750,000 young people since 1976 and supports over 100 more each day.
