December 5, 2023 Abbeville, LA
The Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative (LICI) has completed its first Louisiana iris planting in its Palmetto Island State Park iris restoration project. Fourteen volunteers planted over 700 I. nelsonii species of the Louisiana iris in the park's boardwalk swamp on Saturday, three days ago, in a rushed two-hour planting event organized by LICI. A line of severe thunderstorms passed through the area on the morning of the event, with the threat of more rain coming, according to Gary Salathe, president of LICI and organizer of the event. "For the first time ever, I actually had to call some of the volunteers who had plans to attend one of our events and tell them not to come. The roads were just not safe to be on," Salathe said.
The "Abbeville Red" iris is the common name for the I. nelsonii iris.
Photo: In August and again in October, LICI was called in to help save the Abbeville Red irises growing in the park's boardwalk swamp by watering them. They did so by pumping in water from a pond located 400' away. Although the swamp drys up each year in October, this year, when it did in June, it caused some concern. But when the leaves of the cypress trees turned rust-colored and dropped in August, that raised the alarm since it had never happened before.
The rain, or lack thereof, added another layer of complexity to the planting event. The area had grappled with a record-setting, extreme drought, and heat wave for almost six months. The event, initially planned for October, had to be postponed until the winter rains began due to the swamp drying out completely. "There was no way to plant the irises in the rock-hard ground, and they certainly would not have survived if it didn't rain soon after they were planted," Salathe emphasized, highlighting the urgency of the situation.
Photo: On the afternoon before the iris planting event, the conditions in the boardwalk swamp were ideal. Enough rain had fallen on the site over the previous week to make the ground moist enough for the irises to be planted and survive without standing water.
The planting event was scheduled for December 2nd after it rained a few times in the park in mid-November. It was planned and organized as a huge community event. Several local groups had signed on to help by supplying volunteers; a local priest was to give a benediction, a musician was going to play background music for the group as they worked, and Patrick O'Connor, president of the Greater New Orleans Iris Society, had agreed to give the opening remarks.
Ed Wilhelm of the Abbeville Garden Club helped out by weed-eating the areas where the irises were to be planted the week before the event.
Photo: The I. nelsonii irises growing at the LICI iris holding area for the planting were dug up a few days before the event. "They had to be planted within a few days,'' Salathe said.
Then, everything, except the actual planting of irises, was canceled a couple of days before the event when the weather forecast predicted heavy thunderstorms for the event day. Since the amount of expected rain would likely fill the boardwalk swamp to its full height for winter, the event could not be rescheduled since it's impossible to plant irises in standing water over 1" deep. However, a core group of die-hard volunteers agreed to come "rain or shine" and try to get the irises planted before the rain arrived.
The irises, which had been dug up from their containers at LICI's New Orleans iris holding a few days before, arrived at the park the afternoon of the day before the event.
Photo: Organizers of the planting event found this scene at daybreak; the boardwalk swamp had been filled to the brim from the overnight rain. Most areas of the
swamp held 6" of water.
Then disaster struck. The night before the event, violent thunderstorms hit the area for hours and dropped 3" of rain in the park. At daybreak, it was discovered that the boardwalk swamp was now filled to the brim. To make matters worse, the line of storms was still between the park and many of the volunteers who were to drive to the park to do the planting. Salathe called them and asked them to stay home since the roads would be dangerous.
Photo: Volunteers are seen planting irises wherever they could find shallow water in the swamp, usually among the roots against the trunks of the cypress trees and
along the edges of the swamp.
Fortunately, fourteen volunteers who lived on the park side of the line of storms came out to plant the irises. The group decided to dispense with opening remarks and get right to work planting irises since more rain was still possible.
After walking through the site, it was decided that the irises could be planted in the shallow water against the roots of the cypress trees and along the edge of the swamp. Neither of these options was considered in the earlier planning before the rains came because they would likely be the first areas to go dry if another drought hits next year. However, it was the only way to get the 700 irises planted.
Photo: On December 2nd, Fred Villen is shown by his wife's plaque on the boardwalk as he takes a break from planting irises.
The boardwalk in Palmetto Island State Park underwent extensive renovations in 2016. At the time, Fred Villien, a resident of the area, made a substantial donation to the Friends of Palmetto Island State Park to have the boardwalk rebuilt using expensive non-rot composite deck material. He donated in memory of his deceased wife, Ruth Villen, a beloved local high school teacher and an avid gardener who loved the outdoors. Salathe related this story, "We called Mr. Fred, who is up in age, to invite him just to come out and sit and watch the volunteers work planting irises. But he laughed and responded that he would be coming not with a lawn chair but with his shovel to plant irises! And he did! He arrived one hour before the other volunteers, so we put him to work when he said he didn't want to wait for the event to start!"
Photo: Kent Benton and his son Forest are shown a few days before the planting event at Palmetto State Park as they load up a trailer with Abbeville Red
irises Benton is donating.
Every one of the Abbeville Red 700 irises that were planted was donated by Kent Benton, a Louisiana iris aficionado with a particular interest in the I. nelsonii iris. He grows thousands of Louisiana irises in his private nursery on his Livingston Parish farm. He has developed a technique for propagating these irises from seeds created by the close capture method of pollination.
Benton donated hundreds of I. nelsonii seedlings to LICI in July for the project. They have been grown out at their iris holding area in New Orleans and were used in the December 2nd planting at the park. In addition, he donated hundreds of mature I. nelsonii irises the week before the planting event, which were also planted the day of the event.
Benton has propagated Abbeville Red irises from irises other growers collected from the wild years ago. "We appreciate Kent's support for the iris restoration project at Palmetto Island State Park's boardwalk swamp with these iris donations. It is allowing us to get a one-year head start on the iris restoration project, " Salathe said. In the future, LICI will use irises grown from seeds they collect from the Abbeville Swamp each summer with the landowners' permission.
Photo: The wet and tired volunteers are shown after the last iris was planted on December 2nd. (Some volunteers are not shown because they had to leave early.)
LICI plans to hold an Abbeville Red iris bloom event on Saturday, April 6, 2024, at Palmetto Island State Park while the irises already growing in the boardwalk swamp and the newly planted irises all bloom. "This will only be possible because of the dedicated fourteen volunteers who braved tough weather conditions to get the irises planted. Thank you!" Salathe summed up.
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