July 15, 2025 Abbeville, La.

Two dedicated volunteers who braved thunderstorms, deer flies, intense heat—and even a snake or two—completed a mission to help preserve one of Louisiana’s rarest native plants.

On July 9, 2025, on a typically muggy July day, Gary Salathe with the Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative (LICI) and Ed Wilhelm of the Abbeville Garden Club collected 91 seed pods from wild-growing Iris nelsonii—commonly known as the “Abbeville Red” iris—in the Abbeville Swamp, located in Vermilion Parish. This is part of a multi-year project to increase the number of irises growing in the Abbeville Swamp.

This effort wouldn’t be possible without the ongoing support of two private landowners who, for the third year in a row, have generously allowed access to their property so these precious seeds could be gathered.

What happened next? On the July 15, 2025, members of the Lafayette Parish Master Gardeners Association and the Acadiana Native Plant Project opened most of the seed pods and potted the seeds. The next day the Abbeville Garden Club opened the remaining seed pods and planted the last seeds. Each group will care for the pots to help germinate the seeds over the next few months.

In December, LICI will collect the pots, and the young seedlings will be transplanted into growing containers at LICI's New Orleans nursery. Then, in fall 2026, the plants will be planted in the restored boardwalk swamp at Palmetto Island State Park as part of the ongoing Abbeville Red iris restoration project. Once they bloom in spring 2027, LICI will confirm which plants are true Iris nelsonii before returning select individuals to the Abbeville Swamp.

Why all the effort? In the wild, very few iris seeds survive. Most are eaten by animals or insects, or fail to land in just the right spot to grow.

Photo on left: Ed Wilhelm of the Abbeville Garden Club stands beside a thriving clump of irises in the Abbeville Swamp, where about 200 blooms were recorded in April—a very rare sight in the swamp.

Photo on Right:

Only about twelve seed pods could be found on July 9th in the same clump.

Photo below: Its been observed during seed pod collections over the past two years, the number of pods that successfully form after pollination—and then survive attacks from insects and animals—is extremely low. The two volunteers encountered many seed stalks like the one shown in the photo: bare, with no pods at all.

One likely reason so many flowers fail to produce seed pods is a shortage of pollinators in the area. Iris nelsonii is particularly dependent on hummingbirds for pollination, and the remote location of the Abbeville Swamp may reduce the chances of these pollinators finding the flowers at the right time. In addition, there are reports that the number of hummingbirds in south Louisiana may

have been lower than usual this past spring, which could have further impacted pollination success.

Another issue regarding using seeds in the iris restoration project is the presence of other Louisiana iris species around the margins of the Abbeville Swamp, which makes it essential to confirm that the seedlings are not natural hybrids created by cross-pollination before reintroduction.

To ensure genetic purity, seeds are first cultivated in the protected swamp at Palmetto Island State Park’s boardwalk. Once the plants bloom, they can be verified as true I. nelsonii before being returned to the Abbeville Swamp.

An added benefit of this program is the creation of a world-class destination at the boardwalk swamp within Palmetto Island State Park, where visitors can experience these rare Louisiana irises blooming each spring in their natural habitat.

The park’s annual Abbeville Red Iris Bloom Event now attracts hundreds of visitors eager to witness this rare spectacle.

This project continues to thrive thanks to the passion and teamwork of volunteers, landowners, Dept. of Louisiana State Parks, the Friends of Palmetto Island State Park and their donors, and local garden clubs and conservation groups.

2,650 Abbeville Red iris seeds came from the 91 seed pods collected from the Abbeville Swamp.

"Thank you!" goes out to these volunteers (left to right) from the Lafayette Parish Master Gardeners Association, Abbeville Garden Club, and Acadiana Native Plant Project for potting the seeds and agreeing to care for them over the coming months as they germinate.

Salathe expressed gratitude to partners and volunteers, saying, “Projects like this wouldn’t be possible without your energy, support, and teamwork—you are the heart of our mission.”