DEFINITION OF TERMS:
- KEYSTONE means they are listed by National Wildlife Federation as core plants for a wildlife garden in my ecoregion (Ecoregion 8).
- NOT QUITE NATIVE means they are slightly out of range but adjacent to NYS as determined by GoBotany and NY Flora Atlas.
- Otherwise the plant is a NY-native or native to the area noted.
MAY NOT BE NATIVE!! Sweet flag (Acorus calamus)
Is this native? There is an Asian species and a native species, but so far I’m not sure which this one is.
We had bought this plant as an emergent (i.e. out of the water) vegetation, a necessity for the dragonfly and damselfly larvae. They climb up these leaves and emerge, leaving their exuvia (empty “shells”) behind. Reason enough to have these plants!
Sweetflag is mainly a foliage plant, but it does have this unusual “flower.”
- Learn more:
Blue flag iris (Iris versicolor)
I first saw this plant many years ago in a marshy area at a local nature center, long before I became aware of native plants. Did someone plant it there? How could such a beautiful plant just be growing out there in the wild?
I first planted blue flag iris at the edge of our pond. They multiply quite well, so I tried planting some of the extras in a regular garden bed. To my surprise, they seem to be thriving, so I guess it’s another case of a plant perhaps preferring a wet area, but still being able to grow in “regular” garden conditions.
When we first built our pond, the garden center had sold us Iris pseudocorus, a non-native invasive yellow iris. Though it was very pretty, when we discovered that it was a poor choice, we ripped it out. Why plant a non-native invasive when this native iris is so beautiful?
Wildlife: Nectar for hummingbirds
- Learn more:
- Wildflower Center: Blue flag iris
Soft rush (Juncus effusus)
The delicate brownish things are the “flowers” of the soft rush. It lends a nice aquatic-y feel to the pond.
Wildlife: Birds
- Learn more:
- Wildflower Center: Soft rush
Bog bean (Menyanthes trifoliata)
Bog bean is a nice plant with snowflake-like flowers in the spring. It’s very prolific, and I pull out lots of it, confident that I’m not eradicating it.
If you look closely you can see on the bottom of the leaf at the right edge of the photo the exuvia (discarded skeleton) of a dragonfly that climbed up this plant to emerge.
The bog bean flower is beautiful!
- Learn more:
- Wildflower Center: Bog bean
Arrow arum (Peltandra virginica)
The shape of the leaves lends it its name. It doesn’t have any spectacular features, but is a pleasant plant. It hasn’t spread at all, unlike most aquatic plants we have, though the clump has matured.
It has an interesting seedpod, which heads down into the water.
Wildlife: Berries for wood ducks, king rails
- Learn more:
- Wildflower Center: Arrow arum