Yes, it’s been a minute since my last update. Bloom season was earlier than expected and more abundant than seasons past (no complaints here!).

It’s now July and it’s time to process orders and get them sent on their way. If you have an existing 2026 plant order (Iris and Hemerocallis), I will be sending a message with the tracking number when your order ships. Hemerocallis are blooming now, so any orders including them will ship later than Iris only orders. Unless you have preferences to the contrary, I will ship Iris and Hemerocallis together to minimize shipping expenses. Any questions, please drop me a line!

The US Postal Service raised rates late in 2025 for the Priority Mail Flat Rate boxes.

The medium flat rate box now ships for $21.95. This is per box, no matter what’s inside, and is automatically added to the price of plants in your order at checkout. Like you, I’m not wild about it costing more to get plants to various places, but my preference is this service, both for price and the 2-3 days average transit time to most locations.

On average, about 6-9 TB Iris rhizomes fit in the medium box.

Despite a warmer than average winter season, the Hosta area didn’t fare very well. Until I am able to sort out what happened to them, they’re not available. The true lilies (Lilium spp) came up way earlier than average, and I wasn’t able to justify disturbing them and shipping them after they had emerged above the soil line. I’ll also admit that I was distracted by early dwarf Iris bloom by that time.

Container production of my wares has been slow overall with soil temperatures and moisture levels being inconsistent and difficult to hold relatively steady.

The 2023 crop of seedlings was planted in the field behind the house on the grounds of the arboretum that employs me full time.

A full 95% of the 849 seedlings rowed out in the ground bloomed the spring following germination! A healthy majority of the 2024 crop of seedlings was rowed out next to the 2023 crop. I knew in-ground production was more to their liking…my observations drove the point home.

I was pleasantly surprised when the overwhelming majority of the 2023 crop of seedlings bloomed in 2025. There were some very intriguing color schemes and blends that I hope remain stable.

64 pods were produced in 2025, a new high for this one-person operation. As of December 31, 27 of those crosses have at least one emerged seedling (some of those have over 10 awake). Progress waits for no one…

I planted half of the bed area behind the house at the arboretum with the 2023 crop when it was ready to be rowed out. After the maiden bloom of well over 90% of those seedlings less than a year later, the other half of that same area was planted with as many seedlings from the 2024 crop year as I could fit.

Soil testing verified that the soil is just what bearded Irises like, much better than life in a container (though that latter is slowly being changed to be more accommodating).