Groups Unite to Support Kent Benton’s Propagation of the Abbeville Red Iris

July 22, 2025 Livingston Parish, La.

The Friends of Palmetto Island State Park, Inc., the Greater New Orleans Iris Society (GNOIS), and the Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative (LICI) have teamed up to support Abbeville Red iris enthusiast Kent Benton in his mission to propagate this rare and beautiful iris for the restoration project at Palmetto Island State Park in Vermilion Parish.

LICI combined the three groups' donations and then coordinated the purchase of supplies for Kent’s noncommercial Abbeville Red iris nursery, including a large delivery of bagged potting soil, plastic mortar mixer containers for growing irises, and a shipment of wide-rimmed 9” x 6” Mum Pots — all recently delivered to his Livingston Parish property.

Some of the materials purchased with donations from the Friends of Palmetto Island State Park, the Greater New Orleans Iris Society (GNOIS), and the Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative (LICI) are shown here.

For those unfamiliar, the Abbeville Red iris (Iris nelsonii) is the rarest species of Louisiana iris, found only in its native habitat in Vermilion Parish.

Kent, a lifelong Louisiana iris aficionado, has been working for years to preserve this species using plants originally collected by others from the Abbeville Swamp decades ago.

He developed an innovative “Close Capture Method” of pollination, hand-pollinating blooms and sealing them to prevent cross-pollination by bees or hummingbirds, ensuring pure I. nelsonii seeds. (This unique method was recently highlighted in the Society for Louisiana Irises magazine.)

Kent’s contributions to the Palmetto Island State Park boardwalk swamp restoration project have been extraordinary. In 2023, he donated hundreds of I. nelsonii seedlings for LICI to grow out, and each year since, he has provided hundreds of mature plants for direct planting by LICI volunteers.

Together, Kent’s plants and LICI’s own seedlings—grown from seeds collected in the Abbeville Swamp—are helping to restore wild populations of I. nelsonii.

LICI and its partners aim to restore and expand the Abbeville Red iris population in Palmetto Island State Park and in its native habitat — the Abbeville Swamp — where numbers have declined sharply over the decades.

A heartfelt thank you to the Friends of Palmetto Island State Park, the Greater New Orleans Iris Society and Louisiana Iris Conservation Initiative for helping support Kent’s vital work to preserve this remarkable Louisiana iris species!