plants and arbutus tree for salt/fresh water area?

It's me again. You people are more helpful than any book I've read on gardening so far! The river I live on is close to the estuary and has some salt mixed with the fresh water. Are there any perennials you could suggest for this ecosystem? I have an arbutus in an 18" round plastic bucket that I'd love to plant (a gift from the previous owner of my house), but I've heard they're persnickity. Does anyone have advise? I've added a picture of the river, just for fun. Our house is teeny, but we're right in the city, and even though we moved from a huge house and are going bonkers with so little space, we couldn't let such a treasure pass us by :-)

Hi Maggie, what a wonderful find, a house that looks onto water, I am assuming you are that close to the river, there are several plants that like there feet in the edge of water and there are some that like to be further back so they are just in the damp soil, but could you let us know if this waterway freezes up in winter as this would be a factor in your choice of plants, once we know this, there is a better chance of helping you out with a selection, WeeNel.

Thanks WeeNel. We are right on the river, but there's a bank, so the plants aren't right down at the river's edge. This never freezes in winter, as it is partly salty, and also it has a tide. We don't get cold enough to freeze even small fresh water ponds most of the time. The small fish pond has never frozen over. The weather is very similar to Scotland my husband says, but not as harsh as your northern climes. Across the river from us is a nature park with arbutus trees, so they are native to the area. We feel very blessed.

Hi Maggie, here is a list of plants to look out for,
In damp soil
Hostas, many forms and variegation's on the leaves and form large clumps.
Astilbe, red, white, pink form large clumps.
Arum italicum, green leaves with white viens.
Candelabra Primroses, deap pink, yellow and other colours, self seed.
Primula vialii is lovely
Trollius, globe flower plant in large clumps then 4 years later, divide up.
Senecio Tanguticus, tall, late flowering, fluffy seed heads in autumn.
Ferns, any type will grow in damp soil but need shade.
Dormera peltata, (umberella plant) pink .
Iris Missouriensis, purple flowers tall 2 ft.
Iris siberica, Snow bounty is a nice white one with yellow falls.
Mimulus, low groundcover but pretty, little faces marked the flowers.
Arisaema, the flowers come before the lush foliage
Dierama, pink, white if you can get it, (angels fishing rods)
Miscanthus sinensis Zebrinus, (grass) plant between ferns as it grows up to 6 ft,
Carex elata Aurea, Grass, yellow foliage, cut the grass and the one above end season.
Rodgersia aesculifolia, burnt orange floage, large leaf.
Caltha palustris, yellow flowers, ground cover, low growing. Marsh marigolds,
Digitalis, white purple pink flowers, Fox gloves.
Arum lilies, white, yellow or dark bronze.
Bergenia, low growing, pink, white.
Alchamilla mollis, this will spread all over the place if you dont dead head it, but lovely.

I have more if I look up my books, ( now very late evening here) but you could go to your local library and look out for books for banks and streams/rivers and you will find lots of pictures of river plantings to give you even more ideas and show you plantings growing side by side, some of the plants I have mentioned like rich damp soil while others you would plant where it is not quite so wet, but the odd flush of water wont harm any of them as this is there habitat anyway. good luck. Oh and always check the spellings, WeeNel.

Thank you so much WeeNel. I definitely do look at books, but I can rarely sort out what the flowers are. Not too many riverside plants that I've seen so far, but I'll keep looking. You've been a great help. The plants I have now obviously thrive here, and the neighbours have been helping me with the names, but some of them they don't know either! All my gardening friends (all of the three that garden) have been over, but they just contradict each other lol. It's lots of fun though.

Take pictures of the flowers you don't know and post them on the plant ID forum. I'll bet someone will be able to ID them for you. We have quite a few folks from Canada.

Thanks NatureLover, I have one ready to post. I'll try to do that now.

Don't get so tied up with the names, just enjoy what you have growing and enjoy them, then some day you will find the plant growing somewhere else and get the name of it, my husband, whom I love to bits, dont know a dandelion from a daisy, but we somehow manage to get what plant he is talking about, he says things like, that tall yellow flower beside the arch is looking good right now, so I say, you mean the yellow climbing rose that is growing UP the rose arch, oh yes, thats the one, so eventually you will get the names you are looking for, just keep planting and enjoying the fun with your friends, thats what a garden is for, having fun while you break your back working it, ha, ha, ha. Good Luck. WeeNel.

Dear Maggie,

I live just a few miles south of you on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington State and my property overlooks Hood Canal--salt water. There are lots of arbutus trees here growing wild right out of the high bank toward the sun, and I've even seen some growing where the bank meets the rocky beach. You might also want to look into ocean spray and mock orange as smaller trees that can tolerate salt spray and are also good on slopes. Both have attractive flowers--ocean spray is blooming here right now, and mock orange is just starting after the very cool spring we had this year.