Many gardens have them: wet, boggy areas that just don’t drain well enough. Grass won’t grow, plants won’t grow, and the dog keeps coming in the house with wet feet. OK, maybe just the plants are a problem for you. Either way, you could, of course, set up a rain garden in that area (it’s beautiful and great for the local environment), but that can be much more effort than many gardeners are willing to put in. You could give up and have a boggy, mulch-covered area in your garden, but I know that you, my readers, won’t give up that easily. The best option is to try to find plants that thrive in those difficult conditions, and many of the best plants for that purpose are wonderful Irises.
Give Iris louisiana a try. The do beautifully in damp soils, producing some of the most stunning blooms you can find. They’re the perfect solution not only for those areas that refuse to drain, but also for embankments of water features or other water sources (they look amazing on the banks of a pond). Best of all, they’re easy plants to keep, tolerating not only heat and humidity (as you can probably guess from the name), but also cold winters, some even hardy to zone 3. Iris ‘Bold Pretender’ makes an impressively bright, cheery statement in red and yellow, and it looks great next to the Iris ‘Black Gamecock’s intensely rich velvety purple flowers.