April 19, 2021 Lacombe, La.
The native I. giganticaerulea species of the Louisiana iris blooming at the US Fish & Wildlife Service's Big Branch National Refuge's Boy Scout Road boardwalk and trail in St. Tammany parish near Lacombe, La. are blooming.
We are very happy to see that the irises on the edges of the large pond at the boardwalk have recovered so well from taking a beating this past fall from tropical systems with their high tides and winds that past through the area. They didn't look like they would recover enough to bloom when we last saw them a month ago, but they have.
The Boy Scout Road trail is a limestone road that starts at the boardwalk's parking lot.
The boardwalk also ends at the Boy Scout Road trail. If you turn right its a wonderful three mile round trip hike, although most of the irises can be found only one mile in. If you turn left, you go back to the parking lot.
As always, please keep dogs on a leash and children close at hand both on the boardwalk and, especially, the hiking trail.
As per usual, and we don't know why, the Boy Scout Road trail is always the last place in southeast Louisiana where irises bloom for the season. If you can make it out there these next few days, it will likely be the last chance you have to see wild irises blooming this year.
Photos below: Irises blooming along the boardwalk and trail at the Boy Scout Road Trail in the Big Branch National Wildlife Refuge near Lacombe, La. on April 19, 2021.
