When you say it is mowed, do you mean occasionally, like a hay field or weekly, like a lawn? Does the cut grass get used for feed or anything similar? There are certainly some plants that are OK with mowing a few times a year, but I really can't think of any other than grass and sedges that will tolerate weekly mowing and spring flooding. Most bulbs don't like extended flooding and most perennials other than grasses and sedges don't like mowing. Would it be possible to have unmown areas in islands or around the edges?

The only plant I can think of is Camassia, which blooms in early summer and then if it gets dry, the foliage may die off. I've never had it planted in a mown area, and I think you would need to delay your mowing until at least early July in order for it to store enough energy in the bulb. Camassia is a US native, but is western, not New England.

Blue flag irises probably wouldn't tolerate frequent mowing. Sensitive ferns would tolerate occasional or frequent mowing, but the fronds look pretty bad with frequent mowing. The old orange ditch lilies will survive mowing, but wouldn't ever bloom for you, so it would defeat the purpose. Blue-eyed grass grows and blooms well for me in areas where it is damp and occasionally mowed, but I don't know if it would tolerate frequent mowing.

Starting sometime in June it becomes a lawn and is mowed...probably not weekly, but often enough that it doesn't become a hay field. A lawn, but not a well manicured one.

As I said, I was hoping that there was some plant that with plenty of sun and water would flower and go to seed by June. Are there any self-sowing spring annuals that go to seed before June? Are there *ANY* spring bulbs that like swamps? Alternatively, a decorative grass that likes swamp and looks pretty when it gets tall would also work.

My thought is that there are several months of the year this spot is too swampy unusable as a lawn...might as well turn it into decoration/bee food during that time.

You said some ferns might survive mowing...what kinds, and where could I buy "seeds"/spores? I know in my area some ferns have already reached full size...so that might work.

The only plants I found that MIGHT work are Marsh Marigold and Doll's Eyes.

Another thought...are there any varieties of clover that are especially pretty and swamp tolerant? I know clover survives mowing, and has flowers.

This post was edited by edlincoln on Wed, Jun 19, 13 at 10:31

I was also thinking of marsh marigolds.

I'm wondering if there are more than one kind. I bought what I thought was the plain old species (what I thought was the ONLY kind), but it is very different from some we have at work. At work, there is a beautiful huge spread of them, they bloom much earlier than mine, and then poof! they're gone!

Mine have hardly spread at all in the three or four years they've been there, bloom later, and take forever to go away. Mine are in a very wet area, with standing water for much of the time; the ones at work are in a woodland setting.

I don't know if its just the difference in setting, but I'm thinking there's more to it. My co-worker said they were very aggressive, which surprised me because of my stay-at-home plants.

Anyway, didn't mean to go on so but just sharing my experience. If you get the kind at my workplace they should work nicely, lol. If you get the ones I have, well, I'm not so sure!

Dee

I understand that "Marsh Marigold" is a common name that has been applied (missaplied) to a couple different species. The "true" Marsh Marigolds sort of clump. There is an invasive, aggressive plant that is sometimes mistakenly called Marsh Marigolds. (I think the give away is it has bulbs).

I don't suppose you could send me some seeds from your workplace? :-)

Not this year. :) The plants are long gone! If you want to wait till next year and remind me, I'd be happy to get some for you.

What I planted in my garden is caltha palustris. The plant at work is similar - similar bloom, leaf shape, and for the most part leaf size, but it is lower to the ground and I think the individual plants have a wider spread, although I would have to double check on that (next year, lol). Unfortunately there is no way to find out what it is exactly. But its really a beautiful little groundcover and it seems to me that it's aggressiveness (which I haven't noted to be overly bad - haven't noticed much spread in the two years I've worked there) wouldn't be a problem if it disappears two weeks after blooming!

I have to say that I am rather disappointed in my caltha palustris. Its just not as hearty and hale and robust as I expected. Lots of it has just disappeared. The individual plants that are there are fairly nice, but I was planning on this being an edging of a pathway for spring, and it has failed in that mission!

Dee

We have a wild blue iris, similar to a siberian, in our marshy field but my husband usually has to wait until August before it's dry enough to mow and then usually gets the mower stuck in the seasonal stream bed. Perhaps you can compromise and not mow as large an area so that the June and July plants can bloom and multiply. It's mucky and wet enough in the steam bed that cat tails have started. I actually haven't identified the wildflowers that are out there but eventually we'll see Queen Anne's lace and ditch lilies. There's even some patches of wild cranberries (I'm in NH near concord).

Last year I insisted my husband leave a strip to go wild near the vegetable garden to encourage "beneficial" insects. If anything, the goldfinches and other birds enjoy anything that goes to seed.

Around here, there is a seasonal stream that every year is filled with forget-me-nots. They usually are dying down by now, so could be mowed at a reasonable time. There are native species of myosotis, but I don't know which ones they are.

This is going to be tricky because you are trying to create an ecosystem that doesn't have a natural analog. Places that are too wet for trees anywhere around here grow tall perennials like cattails.

I don't actually object to tall perennials---cattails were my original idea. Unfortunately, cattail seed are hard to find, and I don't think cattail can survive summer drying and mowing. There are ornamental grasses that can survive in a swamp and survive mowing, but I don't think most ornamental grasses are that visually interesting.

The mowing is going to be the hard part. There are definitely plants that can survive the summer drying bit, including cattails. Most of them I easily control at the swamp edge by normal mowing.