Pest battle with Blue Flag Iris — and how I won

I had a serious problem with frost damage on tender varieties left in shallow water on my Blue Flag Iris earlier this year. Caught it late and had to work hard to bring the plant back. The experience was frustrating but educational.

Now that it's healthy again I can fully appreciate cooling visual effect and microclimate benefit in summer, which is remarkable. I've repositioned it in a natural wildlife pond with naturalistic marginal planting and improved my attention to removing dying foliage in autumn before it rots and reduces water quality. peak flowering period in midsummer was the proof that the plant had fully recovered — genuinely beautiful. Moral of the story: inspect regularly and catch problems early.