Tropicals & Tender Perennials: Tropical Garden #98, 0 by dyzzypyxxy

dyzzypyxxy wrote:
I have Iris pseudacorus http://davesgarden.com/guides/pf/go/666/ growing in my fish pond. In Florida it's very invasive if it gets loose in a waterway. It is banned or classed as a noxious weed or an invasive in many states.

It has yellow flowers, but (thank goodness) mine doesn't flower at all unless I let the water level drop fairly far. Trouble with Iris is that the foliage all looks the same - nice sword-shaped leaves. You can't tell what they are until they bloom. I was hoping they were native Blue Flags (iris versicolor), didn't know I had this invasive species until it finally put up one yellow flower last spring. Since then I have begun rousting them outa there, but what a job!

I've had a few flowers this spring because we were away for 10 days and the water level dropped. I cut and bring them indoors so they don't go to seed.

They were in nice clumps about 3 ft. tall when we moved in here. They spread and grew so that now the leaves are 6ft. tall and shade the pond so my water lilies don't want to bloom. The rhizomes down in the water are bigger than my wrist. I have to cut them apart individually with a serrated knife. In the pic, the clump to the right is what I have been removing - it's about 1/3 the size it was last fall! The clump to the left are Blue Flags, about the right size for my little pond.

On the up-side, they are great water filters, and keep the pond water nice and clear. But the other iris I'm replacing them with will do the same job. Meantime, my yellow and pale blue water lilies, and Baby Doll lotus will enjoy a lot more sunlight this summer.