I am working with a group on a community beautification project and am dealing with a particularly soggy spot. This place is always damp and more often than not has between 3 and 6 inches of standing water. In most parts we are using cannas, papryus and Louisiana iris, seranoa palms (refugees from our own gardens) but there is spot roughly 10' x 20' directly in front of a fire hydrant so we are looking for something that stays very low, no more than 8" as the hydrant cannot be hidden by foliage. The location is zone 8b/9a, full sun, and we would welcome any suggestions. Thanks.
ideas needed
You may wish to try marsh marigolds They are very adaptable to moist soil conditions.
I grow them in my pond and have used them in spots in my yard that are very wet with poor drainage.
The leaves of this plant stay very low with the flower stems 12'' or lower.
Have you tried Golden Club or Dwarf Irises? This is a thread that will give you several ideas, Plants that you might not have thought of as water plants. I am sure this thread will help you. Could you amend the soil to support carnivorous plants? Sharon
I'd love to see that link.....
Can dwarf iris be submerged for weeks at a time? I have pleanty of crispa and reticulata.
I am in zone 8b and I leave mine submerged year round. They are not the dwarf varieties, just Japanese Irises. Also variegated water celery would look nice. The celery is invasive though it not contained. Have you read the thread I suggested. There are lots of house plants that will work for water gardens. Sharon
Great idea about the water celery, I have tons we could use. I don't believe you attached the thread you are speaking about.
I think this is the thread kgb103 was refering to
http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/969007/
Thanks, there seem to be many good ideas. The spot we are working on now is in full, brutal, not a minute of shade sun and the plants have to stay low because of the fire hydrant. I am tempted, after seeing the suggestion on that thread, to use chameleon plant. It is so darn invasive here though and this is a public spot we are planting. The water lettuce should be easier to contain.
How about creeping Jenny? It is bright yellow-green and a nice ground cover. I am in zone 5a (Chicago) and this is nice up here.
Linda
Another good idea. I think we will go with the water lettuce because it looks so pretty ithe winter around here. The edges of the leaves turn bright pink.