FLORA

Our Native Plants

Using native plants in your own garden can reduce yardwork, lower water bills and even mitigate fire risk*. They also restore the character of a place—a unique regional quality that can’t be replicated in full anywhere else. Native plants increase biodiversity by supporting native animals, from birds to bugs, in ways many non-native plants are unable to do. In this way they aid in restoring our local ecosystem too. Adding some native plants to your home garden no matter its size can make a difference to you and your community, and we’re here to help! 

At the Arboretum you’ll find a large variety of flora and naturally occurring wildflowers in the spring and summer such as Penstemon, Buckwheat, California Poppy, Baby Blue Eyes, Iris and Lupine. Native herbaceous perennials and introduced native plants also are in the gardens, which emphasize non-invasive species that easily thrive in our local mountains.

Not all of our plants are native to the San Bernardino Mountains or California. Some plants, including Blue spruce and Buddleja, aren’t natives. Some are even invasive species. The gardens contain more than 30 species that are identified with signs listing the botanical family, genus, species and common name. 

Below is a comprehensive gallery of the many plants that call the Arboretum and the San Bernardino Mountains home.

All photos below are generously provided and copyrighted by © Bob Reed 

Plants of Heaps Peak Arboretum

Flowering Plants of the San Bernardino Mountains

These plants are found across the span of the San Bernardino Mountains.

Important Note About the Gallery

All photos are copyrighted and provided by Bob Reed, former board president of Rim of the World Interpretive Association (ROWIA). These photos are the result of a seven-year, mountain-wide flowering-plant search devoted to continually adding as many photos to ROWIA’s original website as possible between 2005 and 2011. This photo collection is comprehensive and contains plant species that are variously labeled as rare, threatened, critically endangered, common, roadside and invasive. (The photos shown here don’t include those designations.) All San Bernardino Mountain trees are included, as are most wildflowers, chaparral plants and herbaceous perennials. Grasses are omitted. Many plants required a four-wheel-drive, high-clearance vehicle to reach. Rare and protected plant species are found almost exclusively in the Big Bear Lake area and Holcomb Valley. If you have questions about the collection, please send them to junglebobreed@gmail.com.

 

*California Native Plant Society Fire Recovery Guide: https://www.cnps.org/give/priority-initiatives/fire-recovery/defensible-space