Seattle’s extra cool and rainy spring this year, and hardly any summer to speak of (all the heat elsewhere in the USA) have been great for the peas in my garden. Keep ’em picked and they keep pushing out more. Yum!

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Garden flowers that come back by themselves, like bulbs are perennials, make gardening so much easier. But annuals that reseed themselves are perhaps even more welcome, as they have a long flowering period and can be moved around, when they are small, for a good effect. And I love the abundance of them, having planted dozens and dozens around the garden for a very good show. For free!

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And please come to the Open House at the Conservatory Aug 4, 6-8pm, to launch my new book!

My book launch party is on for Thursday, August 4, 6-8pm at the Conservatory, where else? I am so excited! I hope that everyone in the Seattle area will be able to attend this free event. The Conservatory, one of the last remaining Victorian glass houses in the USA, is having a special evening-hours Open House with tours, explaining the current push to finish the restoration begun a long time ago, and they have invited me to be there and sign copies of my new book, “Flowers of Volunteer Park Conservatory: Blooming Month By Month.” Faithful readers of this blog will know that I’ve been visiting the Conservatory regularly and sharing photos from their fabulous showplace for tropical and rare plants. They are always so very perfect that it is a photographer’s dream.

Soon you will be able to order copies on the home page here, but not quite yet. I hope that you can come to the party, though!

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Hope you are not getting tired of all these macro photos lately. This one is a leek plant in my garden. I love the way they look in the vegetable bed, very tall and sculptural with the big ball flowers—like the rest of the onion family. For eating, though, I think it’s best to remove the flower stems early and then harvest soon. Leeks sure are good in soups and such, I found out this spring. But do let at least a couple go to seed for future harvests.

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I am told that the coral poppy I showed a couple of posts below is an icelandic poppy. These are quite tall, and I didn’t know that icelandic poppies got so big, but I’m no poppy expert. Here’s another look, for your pleasure. This photo keeps fascinating me, so I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week. Hope you agree.

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Okay, I admit this photo of Double Delight roses was taken yesterday, not today (it’s raining), but the roses are blooming in my garden right now. If only you could smell them! Today is the Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day meme, where people around the world take photos of what’s blooming in their garden on the 15th of each month, post and visit each other. Fun!

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This poppy is from some seedlings my friend gave me last year. I was surprised to see this kind of poppy. Are they Iceland poppies? There are some exquisite red ones as well as this amazing coral pink color. They are quite tall, about 3 feet or a meter. Anyone know what kind they are?

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Visiting my friend and web developer Marsha Perry of Perry Internet Consulting (hi Marsha!) in Silverdale recently, we strolled along the water at a cute little waterside park. Sunshine, barbeques, kids, the works. I didn’t know what water it was and had to look at a map to learn that we were viewing Dyes Inlet, part of Puget Sound. You can actually see the tiny tip of Mt. Rainier right behind that boat, if you squint.

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I was at the Volunteer Park Conservatory this evening at a special meeting on completing the restoration that was begun years ago, and of course I can never go there without taking a photo or two (a wild understatement). This shade planting outdoors is quite brilliant in color, not like the usual soft colors I think of for shade-loving flowers.

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This alstromeria or peruvian lily is one vigorous plant in my garden. It does give you pause when you planted a few rooted but shabby looking, scrawny plants last year and this year the clump is about 5 feet tall and almost as wide. They are beautiful but hid my peonies and so they will need to find a new spot. I read that any good garden spends about a third of its life in a wheelbarrow, and I must say that rearranging is what it’s all about. You can’t really know in advance how something will do, can you?

Visit Mellow Yellow Monday Shadow Shot Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Macro Flowers Saturday, Macro Monday, Macro Friday, Color Carnival, and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Ruby Tuesday for more photo fabulousness. Browse around here first, why don’t you? Clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner will always bring you to the latest post here.