… All our pets bring so much to our lives. I can't imagine life without them. We have 2 horses 5 dogs and 2 cats. They are all amazing and such personalities and funny characters. And the boss of them all is the littlest sheltie…she lives up to her name Sassy.

Our new pup is 4 weeks past her surgery 8 month old and feelin her oats. She's running around no more yelps if she moves wrong.
It snowed tonight so tomorrow she will gave her first walk in snow. ⛄️

Only one spike of Rose Princess this summer. So far this is the only rebloom.

Lovely!

Lovely pups!

While our weather doesn't compare to other parts of the country, it's been cold and wet enough to stay indoors.

I did venture out onto the patio yesterday to check the seedlings (from 2023 crosses) and I am pleased that the 2 up are still alive, and a 3rd seedling, out of the 3rd CHARISMATIC cross, is now up. So (assuming all goes well), l will have at least 1 seedling each from the 3 crosses that I planted.

1st iris of the year!

New puppies!

The ground here is frozen and there's a bit of snow too, so nothing is growing - except expectations of spring!

From early December:

The old beech next to the road.


View of the field and hedgerow to the SE.


View of the fields to the SW.


Winter 'interest' in the iris pot ghetto.

Hi Lilli, Nice to see you posting again. Your winter photos are lovely

AndreaD said: Hi Lilli, Nice to see you posting again. Your winter photos are lovely

I agree too!

I was quite surprised to see PURE AS GOLD in bloom today. Sneaky thing.

The stalk is short, the bloom is low, the color is a saturated golden yellow rather than gold (normal for cold weather? daylily color is affected by cold weather), and the clump is a mess, so no pic.

But still... rebloom.

DOUBLE DAY also has a bloom stalk up (*that* one I was aware of), but no bloom yet. I wanted to repot that one last summer, but never got around to it. I'll have to make it a must this year.

Hi Lili! Love your winter shots, especially the beech tree. Nice job of making the pot ghetto interesting.

Daphne: As always, just love your garden variety and that you share it with us. And Quigley is a real cutie. Love that name too.
Lola: What a beautiful healthy rebloom.
Bea: Ahh, the dog I lost was part Border Collie. He was so so smart and yes a handful. He was always looking for work to do, thus sometimes I think that was why he was such a handful. Coolest personality ever though. I miss him much. Love seeing your puppy.
Lilli: Great to hear from you. Absolutely love your winter photos but especially the Old Beech tree.

thank you, elsa, for the acorn.

Well, I finally got a flower on DOUBLEDAY today. It's kind of small... I don't remember how big the flowers were last year. But hey, at least it's an iris in bloom today!

Daphne: You're welcome
Poly: At this time of year, to see a bloom is so exciting!!! I am literally still pulling grass out of some of my gardens. Then I have to go back and cut off more dead fans, all in preparation for Spring. Then I start fertiliing my SDB by mid February. So busy busy busy. But garden work is becoming easier again because I just feel that Spring coming in the air.

well, my garden is mostly beaten down with rain, rain, rain and more rain here in North Sacramento valley. But one small first bloom for me in 2024. SDB Smell The Roses put out a small bloom this morning.

...but one small first bloom for me in 2024. SDB Smell The Roses put out a small bloom this morning.


Gretchen ~ Lovely!

Grats, Gretchen. I've only had bloom on one of the rebloomers and the first of the PCIs, but nothing yet on the SDBs.

Thanks, Poly-
I am wondering about PCIs.....I got 7 or 8 at the Fall Regional last October as an experiment. They pretty much stayed about the same as when I planted them, but now all are putting out some green leaves- should I feetilize them now? and with what? I think I planted them way too close together- less than a foot apart. (what was I 🤔 thinking?) I am anticipating putting some pretty dense shade cloth up for the intense Redding heat. And may have to put in pots for shade anyway. oh boy. they are so pretty when they bloom!

Yes, I generally fertilize the PCIs around this time of year. Don't ask me with what, lol. Sometimes I use time release Osmocote Plus, sometimes I use 10-10-10, sometimes I use both!

So for our area (and you seem to be in the same climate zone), now, and then maybe again in the fall, like October sometime.

I still have to go plant out my latest PCI, but wet ground, rain, and appointments this week. I'll try to get that done when I fertilize my PCIs, otherwise I'll just have to pot it up and put it in mostly shade somewhere.

How pretty Gretchen! Curious, Does it smell like roses?

I have been out in the gardens lately still cleaning up some dead fans and debris. I am starting to see the 1st thick leaves coming up on some Irises and it is so exciting. I call them tender shoots because I end up accidently breaking them off way too much as they are so tender and easy to break. They are so different from the skinny fans that pop up in the Fall and I know for all those I manage to keep from knocking off during weeding, they are going to be those lush springtime fans full of beauty and life. Isn't Spring (or almost Spring) great I still have 5 weeks to go before I start seeing any blooms but at this stage, I even find leaves exciting.