I noticed the photo date - did that really bloom on Ground Hog Day in Zone 5B?

Yep.

There's a caveat, though. I can't grow Louisiana Irises in the ground here. Only a few will survive our winters, but even then they almost never bloom. To get around that I grow them in 10 gallon grow bags. When sub-freezing weather hits in the fall, I move them to an unheated garage. When the really cold weather rolls in, I move them to the basement, which is also unheated but stays around 60 degrees. I also have grow lights down there for iris seedlings and plants for the vegetable garden to keep them semi-happy. Ideally, the LAs bloom after I put them back outside in April. But, it's always a bit of a guessing game on when to make the moves and, because of some brutal weather we had early this winter, I moved them too soon and some are beginning to bloom now.

This iris actually started blooming over a week ago. Yesterday just happened to be the first day it was warm enough to take it outside for a picture (pictures of irises taken inside are always way off on color)

That's labor intensive!
Thank you for the explanation. Since lifting 5 gallon pots is about my limit, I'll stick with my hardy irises. However, maybe it's worth it for you to have a bit of iris cheer in January. Thanks for sharing it!