It’s been an unbelievably hot summer so far, pretty much everywhere in the country. Iris are done blooming and orders are being organized for pulling and preparation for shipping. I’m a couple weeks behind on getting started shipping due to incessantly hot weather. Below: Seedling Row in May, 2022.

Anyone who placed a pre-order for Iris paid $17.10 for shipping via USPS Priority Mail Flat Rate. That was the going rate back in February, when this site went live. I found , when shipping those orders at the end of July, that rates rose in June to $18.40 for a medium box. Regardless, I will continue to honor the original shipping charge through the end of 2024. Below, Tricyrtis ‘Empress,’ a lovely late summer-early fall blooming season extender.

Lilies are wrapping up bloom and will be recharging their bulbs for the dormant season ahead. Hostas are in full leaf and starting to bloom. Neither can be shipped until they are fully dormant, which generally is in the latter part of the fall. Below, Hosta Row in 2023.

Disappointed with paler foliage color and sluggish growth rates brought on by small container sizes and low fertility and moisture levels, named varieties and seedlings being considered for registration were moved up from one gallon pots to six gallon pots. Pictured below are one and two-gallon seedlings from seed produced in 2021, as seen in August of 2023, one month after getting them out of their starter pots.

I’m working toward a new set of introductions for 2025. In Iris alone, crosses made in 2023 resulted in 54 pods with varying numbers of seeds. That’s an all-time high, exactly one year after the all-time low of 9 pods set in 2022. Pictured below is seedling 18-08C, one of the more promising youngsters I’m considering for registration.