A Demonstration Site at PEC’s Warrenton Office

In 2015, PEC finished the renovation and expansion of our historic headquarters office, which was built in 1784 in Warrenton, Virginia. As part of the vision for a more sustainable building, we began extensive restoration work on the office grounds. 

Once we completed the building addition, I was anxious to see PEC keep up the momentum and continue with the landscaping. We made such an effort to have the building reflect the organization’s values — from the reuse of an old building, geothermal HVAC system, solar panels, state-of-the art windows and insulation — it was important the landscaping also make a statement that was in keeping with our programmatic goals.

Douglas C. Larson

As of summer 2018, the garden was largely complete, and we are proud to name it in honor of Doug Larson. Doug is a former vice president of PEC, and served in that capacity for 16 years before his retirement in 2016. Thanks to Doug’s passion for natives and dedication to the organization, Piedmont residents have a site that they can visit that demonstrates how native plants can be used in an urban and suburban landscape. 

Our office and its surrounding landscape is a demonstration of PEC’s values for a more sustainable future. “We want the land to serve as a showcase for future workshops to educate the public on the use of natives to create backyard habitat,” said Larson.

Since native plants are supposed to be in our local habitat, they use less and provide more. They require less water, and they don’t need pesticides as the plants have developed their own defenses against local pests. Natives also provide food and shelter to local wildlife, which helps build a stronger ecosystem, and in turn keeps the population of undesirable insects like mosquitoes under control, for example.

Visit the Garden

Throughout the year, we host tours and workshops to showcase the garden and show people how native plants can be used in home landscaping. Plant labels with scientific names and bloom periods are installed throughout the garden so people can take note of specific plants they like and use them in their own yards.

**While the garden is not open for public self-guided tours, we do encourage you to stop by our office during business hours so a PEC staff person can show you around. You can also keep your eyes out for a scheduled tour or workshop at pecva.org/events.

The Design

The restoration project has been led by PEC’s very own Celia Vuocolo and Dan Holmes.

Dan Holmes, PEC’s director of state policy, also has a background in horticulture and received his masters in landscape design from the Conway School, a graduate program focused on sustainable landscape planning and design.

“What we’re doing on the grounds of the Warrenton office will be an example of what people can do in their own backyard,” says Dan. “The front of the property was designed with the suburban homeowner in mind. Therefore the design is more traditional, mimicking the residential landscapes we have grown accustomed to in the U.S., but we replaced the ornamental European and Asiatic varieties with native plants.

“In the back, we wanted to be a little more wild. So while there is a definite form, we did our best to recreate habitats we find in wilderness. We are also taking a slow approach to recreate woodlands and edge habitat. We are first establishing shade trees (linden and maples) and flowering understory and edible trees (redbud, dogwoods, paw- paw and persimmon) and seeding the area with sun-loving meadow species. Over time, as the shade trees establish, the area will transition and allow for more shade-loving perennials. Thickets of winterberry and smooth sumac extend up from the woodland area, and the landscape transitions to low-growing, shade-loving perennials closer to our back patio.”

One of the first outdoor implementations was the creation of a pollinator garden, spearheaded by our habitat and stewardship specialist, Celia Vuocolo, who was also responsible for selecting the perennials. Some of the plants include scarlet beebalm, blazing star, garden phlox, swamp milkweed and oxeye sunflower. When in bloom, these flowers have been buzzing with pollinators.

“A lot of people think providing wildlife habitat means working on a large scale, but PEC will be able to demonstrate what can be done in a relatively small space,” says Doug. “I think people feel like they can only plant roses or boxwood bushes, and that the other native ‘wild stuff’ is for people who live in a more rural space. But once you see how beautiful the natives are, you realize how great they actually are for smaller urban spaces. And everyone benefits—residents and wildlife.”

PEC board member and long-time supporter of our organization, Mark Ohrstrom, and the founder of Grelen Nursery, Dan Gregg, generously donated many of the plants to our restoration effort.

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Plant List

Common Name	Cultivar	Scientific Name	Bloom Time
Anise hyssop		Agastache foeniculum	Jul-Aug
Nodding onion		Allium cernuum	Jun-Aug
Field pussytoes		Antennaria neglecta	Apr-June
Wild ginger		Asarum canadense	Apr-June
Swamp milkweed		Asclepias incarnata	Jun-Oct
Common milkweed		Asclepias syriaca	Jun-Aug
False yellow indigo		Baptisia sphereocarpa	May-June
Blue wood sedge		Carex flaccosperma
Fringe tree		Chionanthus virginicus	Apr-May
Summersweet		Clethra alnifolia	Jul-Aug
Mistflower		Conoclinium coelestinum	Jul-Nov
Flowering dogwood		Cornus florida	Mar-May
Poverty oat grass		Danthonia spicata	May-July
Rattlesnake master		Eryngium yuccafolium	May-Aug
Fothergilla	Mt. Airy	Fothergilla	Apr-May
Wild hydrangea	Annabelle	Hydrangea arborescens	Jun-Aug
Allegheny stonecrop		Hylotelephium telephoides	Aug-Sep
Shrubby St. Johns wort		Hypericum prolificum	Jun-Aug
American holly	Miss Helen	Ilex opaca	Apr-June
Sweetspire	Little Henry	Itea virginica	Apr-June
Dwarf liatris		Liatris microcephala	Jul-Oct
Prairie blazing star		Liatris pycnostachia	Aug-Dec
Wild bergamot		Monarda fistulosa	May-Sep
Pink muhly grass		Muhlenbergia capillaris
Switchgrass	Northwind	Panicum virgatum
Wild quinine		Parthenium integrifolium	Jun-July
Small’s penstemon		Penstemon smallii	Apr-June
Beardtongue	Husker Red	Penstemon digitalis	May-June
Threadleaf mountain mint		Pycnanthemum tenuifolium	Jun-Sep
Moss phlox		Phlox subulata	Mar-June
Lyreleaf sage	Purple Knockout	Salvia lyrata	Apr-June
Three-leaved stonecrop		Sedum ternatum	Apr-June
American senna		Cassia hebercarpa	Jul-Aug
Little bluestem	Standing Ovation	Schizachyrium scoparium
Blue eyed grass	Lucerne	Sisyrinchium angustifolium	Mar-July
Sweet goldenrod		Solidago odora	Jul-Oct
Dwarf goldenrod	Golden Fleece	Solidago sphacelata	Jul-Oct
Heath aster	Snow Flurries	Symphyotrichum ericoides	Aug-Oct
Smooth aster	Bluebird	Symphyotrichum laevis	Aug-Oct
Wild blueberry	Duke	Vaccinium corymbosum	May-June
Ironweed	Iron Butterfly	Vernonia lettermannii	Jul-Aug
Culver’s root		Veronicastrum virginicum	Jul-Sep
Appalachian barren strawberry		Geum waldsteinia	Apr-June
Kentucky coffeetree		Gymnocladus dioicus
Ear leaved tickseed	Nana	Coreopsis auriculata	May-June
Threadleaf coreopsis		Coreopsis verticillata	Jun-Sept
American alumroot		Heuchera americana	Jun-Aug
Swamp white oak		Quercus bicolor
Eastern bluestar		Amsonia tabernaemontana var. salicifolia	May-June
Prairie dropseed		Sporobolus heterolepis
Blue false indigo		Baptisia australis	May
Aromatic aster	October Skies	Symphiotrichum oblongifolium	Sept-Nov
Aromatic aster	Raydon’s Favorite	Symphiotrichum oblongifolium	Sept-Nov

Plant materials from: Grelen Nursery, Hill House Farm and Nursery, Piedmont Nursery & The Natural Garden.

Contractors: Ironwood Outdoors, Brent’s Native Plantings, Cedar Hill Services, LLC, Aptitude Tree Service.