Thanks so much for all your input. We will plant it in a different spot. Tsugajunkie, what do you suppose is causing so many issues with pines? I see you are in SE WI as well. My folks have a bunch of neighbor's that grow Pinus strobus without any problems. Their trees look to be about 20+ years old. Off topic, was it you that I met about 4 yrs ago that came to Bayview to look at Picea orientalis Aureaspicata because I was moving to FL? If so, you are going to kick yourself in the butt. I successfully transplanted it here at my folks house & looks great! It's been a while since I have had my head in conifers that can grow here in WI. Slowly things are coming back & thanks for your help.

Arrrgh! OMG! I'll bet they got out really, really fast. -Babka

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.

Yes, we pretty much all get volunteers that come up in the spring. But think about how many seeds are dropped to the ground compared to the few that actually sprout. I have tried to recover some varieties through use of seeds from fall frozen greenies or from mummies left over till spring and have not had any success. Freezing a seed before it is fully dry kills it because the process of freezing a moist seed ruptures the substance and structure therein. I suspect that the seeds that do volunteer in the spring might have fallen to the ground very early in the summer and then bake out to pretty dry before freezing in the late fall.