Have you tried the California Native Plant Society? They have a chapter in Sacramento, and it looks like lots of activities. You might also search for "riparian" plants, that might narrow your search results. Here is a link that might be useful: Calif. Native Plant society, Sacto chapter

I, too, am a planted native of Western WA. Throughout my childhood and youth, I foraged for berries all over Western WA. Now, in my own garden, although the majority of my plants are non-native, I have a lot of native plants interspersed here and there, that have volunteered and that I have nurtured, including both red and evergreen huckleberry and oregon grape, trilliums, etc. I have had all the berry plants growing in everything from complete shade to lots of sun. From my berry picking days, to my own plants, I can tell you that, even though they will grow in the shaded understory of the forest, the plants that produce the most berries, by far, are the ones that get more sun, and the more the better. This holds true for the flowering currents. As a berry picker, you always try to find a good thicket at the edge of the woods, with an eastern exposure. They really like several hours of morning sun. Sun exposure between 2 and 4 pm can kill young plants, but once established they can take that as well, if watered properly. I have a volunteer evergreen huckleberry growing out of a log in my back yard, in full sun, that is happy as can be. It gets enough water, because it's near a hardy fuchsia. A caution on fireweed (if that is what it really is). I have lived in Alaska, also, where it could almost be the state flower. It is a root runner and can be quite invasive, especially here in WA, where it doesn't get the winter cold to keep it in check. Salal, also a native, is also a root runner, but it is very hard to get established, if not growing there naturally. I have known people, whose yards are backed by a large forested area, that absolutely hate it. Regarding soil....all our native plants do like a highly organic, slightly acid soil. I have extremely light, sandy soil, which dries out very fast in the summer. My success with the natives has come from giving them a good, deep mulch of medium shredded bark, with fines in it. In the years I don't mulch I can really tell they are not happy. Good luck!

I've been in my current home for 11 years, with a goal of trying to rewild the land here. I’m in city limits, but with 10 acres there is a lot to restore. I’ve spent much of the time clearing out invasives and removing aggressive plants from the previous owner like ivy, liriope, and vinca among others. I’ve had good success with wildflowers, but since shrubs and trees take longer that is still a project in process. I’ve put in a few non-native Stewartia to get a sense of how they adjust to local conditions. Stewartia rostrata and Stewartia monadelpha are growing well, but so far only Stewartia pseudocamellia has flowered. I have grown a lot of my plants here from seed but none of my plant societies has offered the native Stewartia so I’m looking for a good source. In the meantime, I’m also adding lots of other native trees and shrubs, with great growth by native azaleas and others. I’ll follow this thread with interest to learn more about your success.

In NE FL (Jax area) tropical milkweed does die back as soon as we get a good frost here but this is a good reminder to try and 'wintersow' my other milkweed seeds I bought last spring before I totally forget about them.