Victoria Avenue is many things. It is a roadway, bikeway, jogging/walking path, linear park, and a botanical garden. The maps on this page provide links to the trees, gardens, and information kiosk located along Victoria Avenue. To learn more about the botanical features of the Avenue, just click on a number, letter, or symbol. This will take you to a list in which the Avenue’s plantings are described. Included with each description, are the common names, botanical names, and colors of the plant’s flowers. Enjoy your virtual tour of Victoria Avenue by clicking on the highlighted features on the map below. All of this information, and more, is also included on our informational kiosk on the north side of Victoria Avenue, east of Jane Street. Why not stop by for an “up close and personal” look at the Avenues history, plantings, important people, etc?

VICTORIA AVENUE, WEST FROM MYRTLE STREET

VICTORIA AVENUE BOTANIC GUIDE Victoria Avenue consists of a landscaped median, flanked by one-way paved roadways and planted parkways. There are two consistent plantings throughout the Avenue. These are both found in the median, and consist of Ragged Robin Roses planted continuously alone each edge of the median, and palm trees planted at regular intervals among the roses. Other plantings along the Avenue, including center median trees, parkway trees, and ornamental plantings vary from block to block.

MEDIAN TREES  The center median of Victoria Avenue is planted with a wide variety of flowering trees. In most cases, each block is planted with only one species. In addition to their flowers, some trees provide colored foliage or berries. The following numbered species relate to the numbers, letters, and symbols on the map on the previous page. Click on any highlighted number, letter, or text to see a picture and description of the plants and features of Victoria Avenue.

PARKWAY TREES On the outsides of the traffic lanes of Victoria Avenue are magnificent specimens of Southern Magnolia, Jacaranda, California Pepper, Silk Oak, and Glossy Privet. To provide more color on the Avenue, new species of flowering trees are being introduced. The following numbered species relate to the numbers on the map on the previous page.

PALMS One of the many glories of Victoria Avenue is its over 1,600 palms, standing at attention at regularly spaced intervals, like soldiers on parade. The most numerous are the Mexican Fan Palms (Washingtonia filifera), lining both sides of the median. The California Fan Palm (Washingtonia robusta) is a California native tree and specifically a native of Riverside County. There are also Canary Island Date Palms (Phoenix canariensis), Guadalupe Palms (Brahea edulis), and Queen Palms (Syagrus romanzoffianum).  

RAGGED ROBIN ROSES  Untold thousands of Rare Ragged Robin Rose plants line Victoria Avenue’s median from one end to another. This old-fashioned variety was introduced in 1825 under the name “Gloire des Rosomanes.” How it came to be called “Ragged Robin” is unknown, but it is one of the distinctive features of the Avenue. No longer grown commercially, all replacement plants are taken in the form of cuttings from existing plants. Victoria Avenue Forever has planted thousands of such cuttings to fill in gaps along the Avenue.

CITRUS TREES Last, but not least are the citrus trees that once lined the Avenue from one end to the other. Time and development have robbed many of the Avenue’s boarders of these magnificent trees, but there are still many areas, mostly between Washington Street and Van Buren Boulevard, where groves still remain. It is also current City of Riverside policy to require developers along the Avenue to preserve, or plant anew, two to three rows of citrus trees to maintain the historic context of Victoria Avenue. Unfortunately, much development, generally east of Washington Street, occurred before this policy was in place, so many development frontages have been landscaped with a hodge-podge of decorative plantings.

CAPTAIN DAMMERS’ HORSE CHESTNUT This tree (Aesculus hippocastanum) was originally planted by Captain Dammers at his home at the northeast corner of Mary Street and Victoria Avenue. When Mary Street was widened in 1974, the tree was moved to the median of Victoria Avenue south of the home. It is now designated City of Riverside Cultural Heritage Landmark #66.

 

 

 

 

 

GARDENS There are two dedicated gardens along Victoria Avenue.
The Lorraine Small Rose Garden at Victoria Avenue and Myrtle Street. The rose symbol on the map will lead you to a picture and description of the Lorraine Small Rose Garden.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dr. Peter M. Lewis Garden at Victoria Avenue and Jane Street.  The flower symbol on the map will lead you to a picture and description of the Dr. Peter M. Lewis Garden.

 

 

 

INFORMATIONAL KIOSK Victoria Avenue Forever’s informational kiosk is situated on the north side of Victoria Avenue, east of Jane Street.

GIANT EUCALYPTUS For size, no other tree on Victoria Avenue equals the eucalyptus. Some are nearly 10 feet in diameter and over 200 feet tall. Some trees have huge, off-white trunks, often picturesquely contorted, attesting to their century-old age. The more than 300 eucalyptus trees on the Avenue represent 14 different varieties.

As you can see, Victoria Avenue is a virtual botanic garden! And the above lists do not include all of the plantings, just the more significant ones. Why not explore Victoria Avenue soon? The best way to see it is on foot or by bicycle. There is a dual purpose bicycle/walking path on the north side of the Avenue from Myrtle Street to Harrison Street. Along both sides of the avenue, for its full length, are bicycle lanes along the right edge of the automobile travel lanes. A good starting point is Victoria Avenue Forever’s informational kiosk, just west of Jane Street on the north side of Victoria Avenue. Here you’ll find information about the Avenue’s history, plantings, important people, and Victoria Avenue Forever.