• A New Hampshire rain garden includes plants native to the area.black-eyed susans image by Carbonbrain from Fotolia.com
  
  Rain gardens comprised of native plants soak up rainwater and filter it after it drains from sources that may contain contaminants, such as driveways, parking lots and roads. They clear the rainwater of pollutants before it is returned to large bodies of water, such as streams, ponds and rivers. There are many native plants in New Hampshire that are suitable for a rain garden.
  
  

Royal Fern

• Royal fern does well in the wet soil along streams, lake shores and wet meadows, making it ideal for a rain garden. The royal fern reaches a height of 2 to 5 feet at maturity. It has a smooth slender leaf stalk and is pale green, tan or pinkish in color.
  
  

Cinnamon Fern

• Cinnamon fern grows along swamps, stream banks and lake shores. At maturity, it reaches a height of 2 to 5 feet. The fern has a rounded and grooved leafstalk, which is covered with cinnamon-colored hairs in early growth that later turn green.
  
  

Tussock Sedge

• Tussock sedge grows in wet forests and marshes generally at water level, growing in clumps up to 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide. As the plant's leaves dry, they gather into a little hill, or tussock, around the plant. Its flower stems and flowers are a reddish brown.
  
  

Black-eyed Susan

• Black-eyed Susan is a stiff, upright perennial commonly seen alongside the highways of New Hampshire. Black-eyed Susan has bright yellow flowers surrounding a brown rounded center. It grows to a height of 2 to 3 feet, and blooms from June to August.
  
  

Milkweed

• Milkweed, a perennial herb common to New Hampshire, has a hairy stem that grows from a thickened base. The leaves are sparsely hairy on the top and densely hairy on the underside. Milkweed blooms from May to August, bearing small purple-tinged flowers that measure less than an inch in diameter. Milkweed grows to be 2 to 6-1/2 feet tall.
  
  

Boxelder

• Boxelder, a form of maple that has a soft wood, is crucial to the stabilization of the streams and river banks where it grows. Boxelder has a dark brown bark and dark green leaves that grow in groups of five. This tree can reach a height of up to 50 feet in maturity with an equal sweep.