Description of Iris louisiana 'Marie Gallais'

Iris louisiana 'Marie Gallais' is a Louisiana iris bred for wet ground and bold early summer flowers. It’s a good pick for bog gardens because it enjoys saturated soil and builds strong clumps over time.

Appearance

It forms upright fans of bright green leaves and sends up flower stems around 60 to 90cm. Flowers are usually pale with contrasting veining and a warm throat, and they appear from late spring into early summer.

Care Guide

Keep the root zone wet and feed lightly in spring. Those two things make the difference between a few blooms and a proper show.

• Sun: Full sun is best for flowering. Part shade is fine in a wet site.
• Soil: Rich, fertile soil that stays wet.
• Water: Boggy soil or very shallow water around the roots.
• After flowering: Cut spent stems and tidy damaged leaves.
• Division: Divide in spring every few years to keep clumps vigorous.

Plant rhizomes just covered and keep weeds away from the crown while it establishes.

Suitability for Bog Garden

This is ideal for bog gardens and pond edges, especially where you can keep soil wet through summer. It looks best planted in small groups so the leaf fans make a clean block.

It also works well in a liner bog if you give it a deeper pocket of compost so the top does not dry out in hot spells.

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