What can you say except wow? I think this neighbor’s Japanese laceleaf maple tree has green leaves in the summer, but I don’t really know for sure. Some late afternoon sun lighting up its glory now is just the ultimate in autumn leaves, for me. Hope you enjoy it.

This one is SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera). Also visit Ruby Tuesday, Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday and Outdoor Wednesday for more photo frolics. If there’s only one photo below, it means there are tons more for you if you click on Sara’s Fave Photos here or above.

Oh, I love the Volunteer Park Conservatory. Is it any wonder I made a book about it? A recent visit to their unendingly beautiful and changing displays yielded this photo of orchids in a stray beam of sunlight. And just for fun, there’s a bonus photo below showing one of the unusual and creative plant combinations that delight me so. That one is SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), but I have tweaked the orchids slightly.

Visit Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday and Shadow Shot Sunday when you get a chance. And if you’ve arrived via a link, be sure to click on Sara’s Fave Photos to see the entire blog.

We have two columnar apple trees, about six feet (two meters) tall and two feet wide at most. They bear full-size apples! With apples, you must have another tree for pollination, so you need two trees, or a neighbor with an apple tree. The trees never get much bigger, so you can have them in pots. We used to have them in big pots on our deck, but when we moved to this house we put them in the ground, and they are happy. This year my hand-pollination efforts, and the plastic sandwich bags against pests, paid off well, and we have a bumper crop. Time for apple sauce!

Take a look at Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Ruby Tuesday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, and Shadow Shot Sunday if you have a minute or two. Browse around here with a new category or tag (“My Garden”?) and click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see all the posts here.

Finally I got to be outside in some good, sunny weather the other day. Went for a walk in the afternoon and it wasn’t hard to find some beauty for the camera. I wonder if the trees enjoy being admired, the way I sincerely believe that flowers do. At least in the fall, wearing their very best, they must. What a red!

Visit Ruby Tuesday, Scenic Sunday, Friday Fences (a new meme, to me) and Outdoor Wednesday, why don’t you? If there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the others. Thank you for visiting!

Some of you may remember a similar image from last year. Up at Anacortes, WA, our friends took us out on their boat in September, crabbing among the San Juan islands. The weather was changing, but here was a spot of calm weather, and how scenic can you get?

Visit Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday, Skywatch Friday, Watery Wednesday, Weekend Reflections and Wordless Wednesday and Blue Monday. Fun! Remember, you can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to return to the full blog with my latest post on top.

Last year I planted several different lilac shrubs in front by the street. I had a few flowers this spring (they are young plants, and lilacs are very long lived and so take their time about flowering) but this season I am surprised to find that some of the leaves are yellow, some purplish, and some have these pretty red and yellow leaves, with pink tones. All right!

Try some new sites: Mellow Yellow Monday, Ruby Tuesday, Pink Saturday, Macro Friday, Macro Monday and Outdoor Wednesday. Quite interesting, you’ll see. But first, be sure you have the complete blog on view here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos.

This photo was taken of an outdoor planter on the street outside of Trudy’s Floral Design in Seattle, which by the way is having a Holiday Open House pretty soon on Thursday, November 10. Cyclamens are very beautiful in person, but their graceful flowers are hard to capture “on film,” as we used to say. That’s the great thing about digital; you can just take a dozen or so until you get one that works.

Take a browse at all the talent at Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Color Carnival, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, and Outdoor Wednesday. While you’re here, do look around, perhaps trying a new tag or category, clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner to view the complete blog if you see only one photo below.

Hope you don’t mind a visit to my rose garden in July. This lovely is called Front Page, and it’s very fragrant. As a rose should be! After all, with so many flowers to grow, why deal with thorns and black spot if not for the fragrance?

Try checking out these cool meme sites when you have a chance: SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday, Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Color Carnival, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Ruby Tuesday and Outdoor Wednesday. Whew! Don’t forget that if there’s only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of them.

I took this photo from my bedroom window exactly a year ago. This year I found out that the horse in our neighbor’s pasture absolutely loves to eat those cosmos flowers which I planted much too near the fence. Next year I’ll plant enough for both of us.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Pink Saturday and Weekend Flowers, if you have a minute. And if there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos to see a nice assortment here.

You’ve got to love shades of gray to live in Seattle. This is a little waterfront town, Redondo, right on Puget Sound, the other day when the sky almost looked like snow. It wasn’t all that cold, but it sure felt like winter was around the corner. Coming back to this after a few days, I really like the simplicity of the forms. I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Skywatch Friday, Watery Wednesday, Weekend Reflections and Wordless Wednesday for more fun with photos. Please click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see the latest photos here. Thanks!