Pond Boss Forums POND CONSTRUCTION Creating habitat Pickerel Rush and Gamecock Iris

Just purchased Pickerel Rush and Gamecock Iris for the pond!

Both are native to my area and according to my research will provide aesthetics as well as beneficial habitat to small fish and other aquatic critters. I figured nature would provide some plants I didn't want, so I'd go ahead and put some in that I do want.

Time will tell if this was a good call or not! I'll keep you updated; shipping early next week.

I think you'll like the iris. Ours just bloomed, so you may not get the flowers on the first year. Ours are several years old, and are spreading well so I'll start digging them up and placing them in different areas this summer.

Good stuff. I got a perfect cove for the iris. The lady told me to plant them in 1-2 inches of water for best results...got a little shelf they can sit on and hopefully fill in the entire spot.

Are your iris in standing water or on the edges beside the water?

I try to plant mine close to the low water level. That's worked for me, and none of the iris died.

Afterthought: On second thought, the iris I planted was fully grown, and not just the tubers. I would plant the iris tubers just like the instructions suggested.

Here's a 2 yo summer "normal" water level batch.

That really helps with the visual. Thanks a ton!

Thanks for some ideas!

Just a little update on this.

Plants came in. Pond megastore did a really nice job; all plants were healthy upon arrival. They are currently in an acclimation period where they sit in water in a bucket in the shade for a few days.

When I plant, I plan to tie them to rocks so they won't float away. Time will tell.

The iris, especially blue flag, will take over some areas. They are great for shoreline stabilization. Pickerel weed is a personal favorite, and the honeybees work it hard. It seeds freely. I would plant them in the sediment on the bottom, just like planting on land.

Does the iris spread laterally, or does it spread into deeper water?

I don't mind if it goes around the pond and stabilizes my shore from wind erosion. I just want the pond to remain fishable from the bank by little people.

What are you referring to when you say "it"? I have had Blue Iris in places around my pond and in 8 years it's gone from a patch that was the size of a 5 gal bucket to 4' from the water x 10 '-15' wide.

Yep, poorly phrased question.

By laterally, I meant does it keep spreading parallel to the shoreline from where it was first established.

I also asked does it spread into deeper water if you plant it into 1-2" deep water. It is much more difficult for me to control plants spreading into the pond, than spreading up onto the shore.

Apparently, I should have asked if the Blue Flag Iris also spreads a lot perpendicular to the shoreline.

esshup, has yours now spread onto dry land 4' beyond the edge of the water? That would still be fine with me. I assume it would be relatively easy to put the bush hog on a high cutting height and just back to the waters edge and clear little 5' wide spots for fishing access? And the iris bulbs will just generating new growth?

Blue flag spreads slowly compared to many other marginal pond plants. It spreads too slowly for most pond owners who like the flowers and height of the plants. IMO blue flag is many times better than cattails. At times when the pond is overflowing blue flag could be in 18" to very rarely 2ft of water. It can survive when on wet pond banks above the water line. Normally it likes living in water 0" to 10"- and up to 16" deep at high water level. .

I have had Blue Iris survive when the pond was 9' low for almost a year................

Wanted to circle back to this post now that it's been awhile since planting.

The gamecock iris didn't make it; in hindsight I wish I would have established it in smaller pots before trying to plant it directly into the shallow pond water. That's a mistake I won't make next time.

Good news is the pickerel rush is thriving. Each plant has tripled in size and are now flowering. My plan is to divide next year during late winter/early spring and transplant to other areas of the pond. Establishing desired plants will hopefully negate undesirables if I can stay on top of it.