My instincts (and my husband's hydrogeology knowledge) tell me that this spring will probably saturate the few feet in front of that drain no matter what in heavy rains. So... I am thinkig about planting some marginal plants that can deal with wet feet and dry ground alternately, and being able to deal with wet feet in the winter/spring is the most important part (since i know dormant and wet is not good for most plants). I am at the border of zones 6 and 7 but would like to stick with zone 6 as my safe zone. For those non-US-ers who need a temp range that's a minimum of 0*F to -5*F for my area (about -18 to -26*C).

Right now they have some sort of bizarre miniture "deck" out the back door which we're ripping out (partially because we want it GONE and partially to be able to check around our threshold and re-seal) which we will eventually replace with a rock (if it's his choice, gravel if it's mine) patio area. I was thinking about some of the beardless iris, maybe a pussywillow... Does this sound OK?

Our yard is in 3 terraces from the street-- the first terrace has the house and this soggy area, the second is dry and houses the spring, the third is tiny and weedy at the moment but also dry. I have plenty of room to plant non-bog things that I like so I am not particularly interested in drying this out other than to keep the house safe. Thanks!