Garden Club of Virginia, Kent Valentine House

The Piedmont and Coastal Plain regions of Virginia are separated by a Fall line, where rivers, small waterfalls, and rapids cascade or "fall" off hard, resistant rocks as they make their way to the ocean. Those rivers give the state its unique geography that has strongly affected its history and economy, and a unique ecology where the plants of the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions overlap and intermingle. Many plant species of the southeastern United States have range boundaries that correspond with this Fall line rather than changes in climatic condition. Other species bridge the two regions.

The interpretive concept for the Kent-Valentine House landscape plan conveys this phenomenon along the James River, a river that crosses the Fall line, as a Botanical Meeting Ground. The NBW design team consulted local botanist and author of Flora of Virginia (2012), Dr. Ann Ware, for information on the charismatic plants that represent the ecology of this area. Charismatic plants such as rattlesnake master (Eryngium yuccifolium) which thrives in moist, sunny areas near the James river are included in the garden design. Ashley Moulton of Richmond-based native plants nursery, Moulton Hot Natives, is being consulted for their commercially-available stock of native plants that have been sustainably sourced from wild populations in Richmond. By sourcing some of the garden's plantings from this and other nurseries, the Kent-Valentine house will represent the local genotype.