by Kathleen Sayce
I've posted several notes over the years about wild Iris tenax populations on the coasts of southern Washington and northern Oregon. Today I have photos of I. tenax from a new location. These plants grow on cliffs southeast of the Neahkahnie sea cliffs meadow population and aren't more than a half mile from that lovely meadow. Like that meadow, they grow on Miocene basalt cliffs several hundred feet above the Pacific Ocean. I saw more than ten clumps, battling agoraphobia to hang over the retaining wall to look for flowering plants.
 |
| Iris tenax flowering on a basalt ledge over the Pacific Ocean |
A report of a Canyon Wren, more than a hundred miles from its normal range in north Tillamook County, Oregon, brought me to this location, via eBird and a local WhatsApp birding group. I heard two partial trills, and one full song. Traffic on Highway 101 wiped out more than two-thirds of the listening time. No good views of this wren, sorry to say.
 |
| Pacific Ocean in background on a sunny, mild day |
This I. tenax population has dark pink-lavender flowers with wide petals. It has persisted in my garden for years, and seeds occasionally make their way to the SPCNI seed catalog, open in December and January each year. Getting closer to these cliff-growing plants requires climbing gear!
The image below is of flowering irises from the nearby meadow, growing in my garden. These were grown from wild-collected seed.
 |
| Iris tenax flowers, grown from the Neahkahnie sea cliff population |
Other wildflowers in bloom on the cliffs include crevice alumroot (Heuchera micrantha), spring gold (Lomatium martindalei), hairy checkermallow (Sidalcea hirtipes) and giant Indian paintbrush (Castilleja miniata). That small slice of blue water in the middle image says it all: it was a lovely day on the Pacific Ocean.
