LICI adds Irises to the Town of Jean Lafitte Boardwalk

November 10, 2021 Jean Lafitte, La.

The Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative (LICI) organized volunteers to do the final clean-up of Hurricane Ida debris at the Jean Lafitte Wetlands Trace Boardwalk today. The group also planted more Louisiana irises.

A Common Ground Relief volunteer works with the organization's Executive Director, Charlotte Clarke (on right), to remove dried mud from the Wetlands Trace Boardwalk during the work-morning on November 10th.

Common Ground Relief volunteers joined with those from LICI to do this second clean-up work-morning at the boardwalk since the hurricane. Branches, logs, trash, marsh grasses and mud that had been pushed up onto the boardwalk by the hurricane's storm surge were cleaned off. The boardwalk is now cleaned off from end to another.

The sections of the boardwalk that were raised up from Hurricane Ida's storm surge, which covered the boardwalk, will be repaired in January by the Tierra Foundation using Louisiana Green Corps workers.

The irises that were planted on November 10th as a test to make sure the soil hasn't been too greatly impacted by Hurricane Ida's saltwater storm-surge. LICI had a soil test done and a soil expert recommended to them by the Tierra Foundation reviewed the test results. His report was that the salt and PH "are on the bubble of what is doable for irises."

The I. giganticaerulea species of the Louisiana iris is what was planted at the boardwalk on November 10th. This species of irises is native to the Jean Lafitte area. The irises were donated in July by Cindy Baucum, of nearby Barataria, La., in July and have been growing at the LICI iris holding area in New Orleans since then.

There were also indications in the swamp by the boardwalk that the area was overpopulated with nutria and swamp rabbits. Both of these animals will eat Louisiana iris leaves if they are very hungry. The irises are usually mildly toxic to wildlife, but they will eat the leaves if there are no other plants available during the dead of winter.

LICI decided the best way to find out if irises can flourish again at the boardwalk is to plant some in at different spots and see how they do.

The volunteers begin work on November 10th planting Louisiana irises after they finished cleaning off the boardwalk.

New Iberia's City Park Gets LICI's Irises

November 7, 2021 New Iberia, La.

The Teche Ecology, Culture & History Education Project (T.E.C.H.E. Project) invited the Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative (LICI) to partner with them to do a Bayou Teche shoreline restoration demonstration project in New Iberia's City Park on Saturday, November 6, 2021. T.E.C.H.E. Project and LICI volunteers did the work to get the plants in the ground yesterday.

Patti Holland with the T.E.C.H.E. Project was the lead on the project. She worked with the Acadian Native Plant Project to get other wetland plants and organized getting the volunteers for the day's event.

A few months before the iris planting, New Iberia mayor, Freddie DeCourt, had a section of the Bayou Teche shoreline in City Park cleared of concrete rip-rap so that the planting would be possible.

The mayor of New Iberia, Freddie DeCourt, not only encouraged the groups to do the demonstration project, but cleared off the concrete rip-rap from a 160' section of the bayou shoreline to make the planting possible.

Peter Patout is a Louisiana iris enthusiast, art and antiques appraiser, historic property realtor and a civic booster of the Bayou Teche area. He was instrumental in pulling all of the groups together to make the demonstration project happen.

Local civic activist, Peter Patout, is shown near the end of the iris planting on November 6th with a very satisfied look on his face. He is on a mission to have wild, native Louisiana irises growing along the length of Bayou Teche as they were back in the area's not too distance past.

T.E.C.H.E. Project is a non-profit, volunteer organization whose members are passionate about making Bayou Teche a healthier waterway through action and education. A video explaining their Reviving Resilient Landscapes - Bankline Restoration Program can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/TecheProject/posts/2922544281148312

The Bayou Teche shoreline just before planting began on November 6, 2021.

During the planning stage for the City Park bank stabilization demonstration project those involved thought that having irises being a prominent part of this effort was a good idea since the Louisiana iris has been part of the culture of the Bayou Teche region all through its history. LICI agreed.

This is the third planting LICI has done with the T.E.C.H.E. Project to show how landowners along the bayou can use native plants to stabilize their shoreline instead of the traditional method of using concrete rip-rap. The planting yesterday was the largest.

Work begins planting irises and other native plants along the Bayou Teche shoreline in New Iberia's City park.

LICI donated 130 I. giganticaerulea species of the Louisiana iris from their iris rescue program for the project yesterday. The mayor has agreed that these irises can be thinned out in the future for other LICI projects to promote the use of irises along the bayou. The planting also achieves one of LICI's goals of having this species of native iris in view to the public as an educational tool on why the irises, and their habitat, need to be preserved.

There is also some discussion of increasing the number of irises growing in the area and along Bayou Teche so that the town can hold an iris festival in a few years. "We are very supportive of this idea and look forward to working on other projects in the region to promote the Louisiana iris," sums up LICI's Gary Salathe.

The volunteers are shown after the planting was completed.

LICI is Ready to Start Planting Irises for the 2021 Winter Planting Season

November 1, 2021 New Orleans, La.

The Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative (LICI) has begun preparations for iris planting events during the next three months. The usual starting time for planting irises is in September, but this year's planting schedule has been delayed because of the dry, warm weather the area has experienced this fall. "Unfortunately we'll need to cram five months of iris plantings into three," says LICI's board of directors member, Gary Salathe. He added that even though the winter rains have still not begun, "We have some wet sites in marshes and swamps that we can plant some of the irises now as we wait for the rains to arrive to plant in the higher areas where we have projects."

LICI estimates that they have 4,000 irises currently growing in their iris holding area that are ready to be planted out in their projects.

LICI's iris holding area is located in the lower ninth ward neighborhood of New Orleans. It is next to the local marsh restoration non-profit, Common Ground Relief's, wetlands nursery. They are allowing them to use property that they own for LICI iris holding area free of charge. LICI picks up the grass cutting cost for the site, the cost of the water they use and all soil, containers and equipment used for the irises.

LICI locates native species of the Louisiana iris that are threatened with destruction, typically from development. They organize volunteer rescue events to relocate the irises after receiving the landowner's permission to remove them.

Volunteers are seen at a LICI "iris rescue" in Des Allemands, La on July 10, 2021. The landowner had been maintaining the ditch in front of his property along Hwy 90 for years as a miniature wetland area. It had Louisiana irises and other native swamp plants growing in it. The irises there were naturally occurring. He has the property for sale and believes the state highway maintenance department will begin spraying the ditch with a herbicide, as they do with all of the other ditches on either side of his property for miles in each direction. He offered the irises to LICI to use in their iris restoration projects.

LICI usually schedules their iris rescues from May through July. "August is not a good time to dig irises because they are dormant then," explains LICI's Gary Salathe. The rescued irises are planted in containers at the LICI iris holding area within a couple of days of being rescued. They are planted using rich soil in containers that hold water to mimic a swamp. This allows the irises to strengthen up by the start of the usual planting season in October. Irises grow from September through May. "Its one of the few plants in Louisiana whose growth season is during winter," Salathe says.

LICI rescues the I. giganticaerulea species of the Louisiana iris, which is native to southeast Louisiana. The photo above is of I. giganticaerulea irises blooming at Bayou Sauvage National Wildlife Refuge in 2021 that are part of LICI's iris restoration project at the refuge. Many of the irises were planted in 2020. They came from LICI's iris holding area after being rescued earlier in the year.

LICI organizes volunteer events to plant the irises within the protected habitats of Southeast/south-central Louisiana refuges or nature preserves after they acquire the necessary permits. Most of the locations have raised boardwalks. Their goal is to increase the public's awareness of this Louisiana native plant. "Our mission is to make people aware of these boardwalks, their Louisiana irises and the habitat they are growing in because the old saying 'out of sight, out of mind' is true. Its hard to get people motivated about saving a habitat and its flora if they have never seen it up close and personal," Salathe says.

Huge numbers of people went out to see the irises blooming at LICI's projects during the first part of April in 2021.

LICI has a long list of locations that have asked to have irises planted this winter. "We have a lot of work to do in just a few months, but we should be able to make everyone happy," Salathe sums up.