Happy new year everybody!



'Multnomah Falls' is a very confused iris that chose to bloom yesterday. It is not a rebloomer to my knowledge - it just seems to be on its own schedule. Nothing at all going on in the rest of my iris garden.

Andrea, hang in there with MF. I was not impressed with it the first couple years, but the third hear it turned out to be beautiful. It takes time to settle in.

Oh, and congrats on having the first bloom of 2024!

Thanks, Daisy. Multnomah Falls is a poky grower - this is its third year and it only has two increases now. But it IS nice to have something blooming right now.

Andrea, congrats on having the first bloom of 2024.

It is certainly a surprise!

AndreaD Your first bloom is a beauty and a winner in my book.

Just hopped on to add Multnomah Falls is the most visited natural recreation site in the Pacific Northwest with more than 2 million visitors stopping by each year to take in the beautiful views. The iris bloom lives up to the falls beautiful view and colors. So happy a flower is named after this national scenic area in Oregon.

We were just at the falls and I could not resist or maybe I'm a bit more OCD about adding a pic of the falls where the initial iris name originated.

Wow, those falls are dramatic. I had no idea they were so high.

Yes the falls are about 642' tall . Since the floods last month after receiving 11" of water in two days the falls is extremely flush and the mist standing on the bridge is a soaking cloak in seconds.

First bloom of 2024! Here's to many more!

andrea, on beautiful 'mf' in your garden. congratulations!

'concertina' has been blooming the latter half of december into the 1st week of january. but, too busy to photograph or post. plus, i'm tired of always seeing her around…..
guess i wouldn't be if she stopped blooming altogether. however, she's pretty unassuming, and gets lost in our sandy soil as a backdrop in photos.

Grats on the first bloom of 2024, Andrea!

Lovely falls, Bea!

I hadn't been out the back of the house since before Christmas, between the holidays, the rain, and fatigue. I was forced to go out there today to leave a check for my garden helper, and I took a very quick peek at a few things.

I was disappointed that the "Token of Hope" white TB seedling which maiden bloomed 2022 on New Year's Eve, shows no sign of a stalk. It was potted and moved from its original location, so maybe it didn't care for that? I hope I get some kind of bloom out of it this year.

Although that seedling did not bloom again on New Year's Eve, I did get another good token in the form of a waxed amaryllis which I had started growing weeks earlier. It was meant to bloom for Christmas, but I got and started it late, so it didn't even start to open until New Year's Eve. This image is from a few days ago:



That was then.... getting back to today, I checked up on my 3 6-packs of iris seeds that I had planted, and I was overjoyed to find 2 seedlings up, 1 in each of 2 TB crosses. Given my horrible luck the past few years trying to sprout iris seeds, even if these are all that I get, so long as they make it to bloom, I'll (try to) be grateful. (Both are from my yellow CHARISMATIC seedling; all 3 crosses were aimed at rebloom, so we'll see what happens. I'd expect all the seedlings to be some shade of yellow, but who knows. )



As a final token of hope and signs of new beginnings, there is definitely life in the potted (but then apparently dead) DRAKENSBERG APRICOT daisy. I'm not entirely sure, at this small stage, if the leaf is right or not (there will always be weeds), but it's hopeful.

Marilyn, Congratulations on your seedlings coming up. That is quite an achievement!

Poly Beautiful amaryllis.
They make the holidays so much brighter. I like the wax bulbs. When they have finished blooming I just remove the wax and plant in a planter with sterile soil let them leaf out till August . Then stop watering in August to encourage dormancy . Then plant late Sept for Holiday blooms. Easy Peasy.

The amaryllis is beautiful--and a great way to begin the new year. Congrats on the iris seedlings!

Andrea: On the 1st bloom of 2024.

Poly: Congrats too on your 2 new beginnings (seedlings) in this new year. Your Amaryllis is lovely!

Daphne: The banner is named after you today I wish I had Irises that would bloom like your Concertina. I had no reblooms after June 1st. I thought I had no reblooms period but then saw where I had made notes that one of my SDB seedlings had rebloomed. Still I don't want to be ungrateful but for all the Irises I have one rebloom is pretty slim pickings.

GreenIris
For the tip for multnomah .

today i did a quick tour of the back garden, and happened to notice that 'saxon' is blooming from under a dwarf nandina. i'll post some other pics of others things that are still blooming or growing in january.

i haven't been actively posting much because of this rascal named 'quigley'. he's been taking up much of my time and all of my energy to train, keep him busy and out of mischievous puppy shenanigans. we were finally at wits end, an tho' i don't like to neuter before 12 - 18 mo. we had him done, and hence the cone. i had to place him on my large art desk (5' x 7') while i was busy with my watercolors so i could literally keep an eye on him.

it's only been 2 wk. to the day, since his surgery. he's a bit calmer, but not by much. i'm going to take him out for a stroll, while i wait for the transfer of pics from one device to another.



codyline fruticosa 'kaui rosebud', noid variegated kalanchoe.

my other photos don't seem to be loading onto my ipad from my phone. so i'll wait a few minutes more to edit and load the others.

Justica 'fruit salad', don't remember the name of the red leaf hibiscus, and another red cordyline in the background in the right.



Mexican lime



shallots and mini japanese round eggplants (still forming…but it's been as chilly as 38 deg. at night)


japanese cucumbers still hanging on, tho' getting a lot of mildew on the leaves.






azaleas still blooming from november, and climbing asarina(sp.?) 'joan lorraine', still going to town since july.


a wonderful, but prickly bromeliad…i cannot remember the variety.

'
'mickey mouse' and another noid bromeliad.


i also have a taro, variety 'mojito' but don't want to bore you, and lastly, the iris (hehe)

so sorry it's not a good representation of this lovely iris. but, it's bent stalk is too low to the ground for me to capture a good photo of it.

shizen lovely to see your blooms and plants. Very happy 😃 plants.
My garden is sound asleep… snow due in a few days.

aww what a cutie…Totally get it we are all to familiar with puppy shenanigans here too… I just adopted a border collie pup. She's a handful. The other dogs are really patient with her too. She is learning her ground manners. The cone of shame is a great way to slow the munchers down.

Finally…at last peace and 🤫 quiet.

Quigley is a cutie!

thank you bea and andrea, on comments of 'quigley'.