Plants For Riparian (rivers & creeks)

Basket Rush is native on the Escondido Nursery Site. It forms large thickets in the creeks fed by avocado irrigation water. It was named basket rush because it was first found on the Basket Ranch in U... Learn more.

A creeping rush of meadows and creeks. It looks like a small Iris leaved thicket with stars on top. Give water, sun and water. It does not care as long as it has water. You can almost plant in under w... Learn more.

A curly little perennial the grows in the hills and mountains of Central and Northern Calif.. It is native down the road under Quercus agrifolia, Pinus Sabiniana and Quercus Douglasii. It is on the n... Learn more.

A shrub that can grow to chin height. It looks like a bunch of green corn stalk brooms tied together with yellow flowers on top. It grows in season stream bottoms. Very showy when in flower, ugly the ... Learn more.

Lilium kelleyanum is a wonderful lily from the Sierra Nevada mountains. Native along streams and moist areas in part-shade. In their habitat they are 4-6 tall, out of their habitat they make a delicat... Learn more.

Lilium pardalinum is similar to Lilium Humboldtii but a species that is next to streams. (The British call it a panther lily, California calls it Leopard Lilly) It needs a little more water and is a... Learn more.

As pardalinum but bigger flowers. The British have cultivar names 'Red Giant' and 'Sunset' This one tolerates sun and heat better than the straight species and is half of the height. This is listed b... Learn more.

Sierra Tiger Lily or Alpine Lily grows up in the Sierras This little lily grows along streams and meadows in the Eastern Sierras at near the summits. Learn more.

Lilium wigginsii, Wiggins Lily,  plant that looks like a delicate Leopard Lily. This lily grows in bogs, creeks, lakes and seeps  up on both sides of the California Oregon Border under Douglas Fir, W... Learn more.

Cardinal flower is a flat perennial herb with 1-2 inch red flowers in 1-2 foot spike of 20 or more. It grows in bogs. Cardinal flower has nice cut flowers. It is a hummingbird flower. Useful in the ... Learn more.

Water primrose grows directly in the water fromm S.America to Baja and north to Oregon. Flowers are a delightful 1 inch(10-20 mm.) sunflower yellow. These plants are easy to grow, just put them into a... Learn more.

Mahonia aquilfolium Compacta is probably a native plant, but there seems to be little information of it's origins. (If you hold the patent on it we never found you.) Compacta likes coastal sand. If yo... Learn more.

A hybrid of three California native Oregon grapes. It's always been confusing calling a Mahonia or Berberis Oregon Grape. It's not a grape and they are native from California up in to Idaho and Britis... Learn more.

A small little 1' perennial with a small blue flower clusters on a spike of scented green leaves. This one grows at higher elevations along creeks and in meadows. It has managed to make its way around... Learn more.

A perennial to 3'. It likes sun to full shade and regular water. It has 2" red tubular flowers most of the year. An aggressive seeder that should be used in revegetation or large gardens, (or for thos... Learn more.

Mimulus (Erythranthe) guttatus is an annual to sometimes perennial that grows in seeps, springs or along creeks. Useful along the edges of ponds or the fountains. Very floriforus for months in spring... Learn more.

Similar to Mimulus cardinalis but flowers are rose red or pink and it needs more water than Mimulus cardinalis. 20" tall. Native to middle to high elevations of the Sierra Nevada and much of the highe... Learn more.

A seep monkey flower from the forests of central and northern California. Click here for more about Monkeys in Learn more.

A creeping perennial with 1 inch yellow flowers that make a 1 ft carpet of yellow at high elevations throughout most of the western states. It does o.k. here but needs constant moisture. Good near str... Learn more.

A short-lived perennial (ours seem to last 5-6 years). The native range is in the desert ranges from S.Ca. to E.Wash and Utah. It has white-pink 3" flowers that fade to pink. The 12" leaves are from b... Learn more.

(Syn. Parnassia californica) A plant to be included in a meadow or along a high alpine stream. Circumpolar. The California form having smaller flowers that are cream colored (with less green). It is n... Learn more.

Physocarpus capitatus, or Ninebark, is a deciduous bush with tiny white flowers in 3"-5" clusters, flowering May through July. Native to the coast ranges and the Sierra Nevada mountains to British Col... Learn more.

A fast 75' deciduous tree. It will grow to 15-20 ft. in 5-10 years. It is along creeks in the foothills and coast ranges of Calif.. It takes takes wind, heat, but not drought tolerant until establishe... Learn more.

A 5ft evergreen (gray) bush. It grows in sandy washes where there is moisture. Native from the San Luis Obispo county into the Deserts to Texas.. The flowers are lavender and relatively showy. This on... Learn more.

This Sierran tree looks like a narrow leaf Black Cottonwood. crossed with a quaking aspen. The cottonwood of much of the Rockies makes it into California around Bishop, Mammoth and the White Mountains... Learn more.