Many iris varieties thrive in wet soils or standing water.
Water and air make up 50 percent of an ideal garden soil, notes the National Garden Association's William Moths. The other 50 percent consists of solid material with plant-sustaining nutrients. Even ideal garden soil, however, can form a nearly impenetrable mass when wet for an extended time. Compacted, wet soil can deprive plant roots of oxygen and friendly, growth-stimulating bacteria. Many plants, however, succeed in either wet soil or standing water. Does this Spark an idea?
Trees
Blackgum trees (Nyssa sylvatica) in standing water develop broad-based, tapering trunks. The glossy, green leaves of these horizontally branched, 30- to 70-foot trees assume brilliant red, purple, yellow and orange shades in autumn. Birds and wildlife feed on their clusters of blue-black berries. Blackgum trees grow in full sun to full shade. Nutans, a pond cypress (Taxodium distichum var. imbricarium) cultivar, also grows 30 to 70 feet tall. Its width seldom exceeds 20 feet. The narrow evergreen has gray-barked, drooping branches. Their muted green needles become warm brown in fall. Nutans grows in full sun.
Shrubs
Three feet of standing water won't bother common buttonbush (Ceophalanthus occidentalis). The 6- to 12-foot deciduous shrub has dense stems of glossy, green leaves. It handles shady conditions as well as wet ones. Buttonbush also sustains birds and wildlife with the round, reddish-brown seedpods following its spherical, white or pink summer flowers. Spicily fragrant golden currant's (Ribes aureum) arching branches pair light-green spring foliage and yellow bloom clusters. The up-to-6-foot shrub's black, yellow or red berries complement its yellow or red autumn leaves. Golden currant grows in sun to partial shade. It survives drought as easily as it does standing water.
Perennials
Cup-shaped, 1- to 2-inch yellow flowers nearly conceal marsh marigold's (Caltha palustra) mounds of branching stems. The early to mid-spring blooms resemble buttercups. The water-lover's heart-shaped green leaves grow to 7 inches wide over the summer. This 12- to 18-inch perennial thrives in sun to partial shade and shallow water. Swamp milkweed (Asclepias incarnata), a sun-loving perennial happy in 1 foot of standing water, lures egg-laying Monarch butterflies with its 3- to 5-foot stems of lancelike, spring green foliage. The Monarchs also consume nectar from swamp milkweed's flat, mid-to-late-summer clusters of pinkish or red-purple blooms.
Irises
Many irises (Iris spp.) combine elegance with standing water tolerance. Yellow flag's (Iris pseudacorus) flowers rise in late spring to early summer on 2- to 5-foot stalks above swordlike, yellow-striped, green leaves. Brown-patterned falls contrast with their brilliant yellow petals. Yellow flag colonizes readily in sunny locations and up to 1 foot of standing water. For an eye-catching, early summer display, contrast yellow flag with 2- to 3-foot-tall northern blue flag (Iris versicolor). This iris has clumps of narrow, arching greenish-blue foliage. Each of its stems produces from three to five white-veined, yellow-throated pale blue-violet petals. Northern blue flag flourishes in sun to partial shade and 2 to 4 inches of standing water. Copper iris (Iris fulva) produces copper-red, late-spring blooms on 2- to 3-foot stems. It likes sun or partial shade and tolerates 6 inches of water.
Tags: standing water, green leaves, partial shade, Blackgum trees, blue flag