I love tulips! And shadows! And sunshine! Tulips are pretty much done by now, but I found this photo I took almost two weeks ago and knew I couldn’t wait til next year to share it. And I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week, too.

Visit Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Today’s Flowers and Macro Flowers Saturday, Ruby Tuesday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Color Carnival and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera). And try a new tag or category, and/or the latest posts here at Sara’s Fave Photos first, why don’t you? Thanks for visiting!

Wouldn’t you like to pick up your mail by walking on this driveway every day? I surely do love sunny days and the shadows that result. The pink shrub at the entrance is a real scene-stealer. This sentinel is pieris or andromeda, very popular here in the Pacific Northwest. I read that our soils are acidic and that’s why plants such as rhododendrons and azaleas (and pieris) tend to do so well. Who knew?

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday and Pink Saturday on this long weekend. Also try Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) if you have a minute. Remember, if there is only one photo below, click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above to see the rest of the collection.

This photo makes me want to keep looking at it, so I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week.

You could probably do a book on just the pink flowers at Volunteer Park Conservatory, but I won’t go that far. The new book I’m working on at this very moment will have all colors of flowers in it, not just pink, although the idea is tempting for those of us who adore pink. And all kinds of foliage, too, of course! Until the book is ready, sometime this summer, I strongly suggest that locals and visitors to Seattle explore this magnificent hidden gem.

Pink Saturday is having a special celebration this week, their 3-year blogoversary! Lots of fabulous pinkness there, to be sure. Also check out Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Today’s Flowers and Macro Flowers Saturday. Happy long weekend to all my USA visitors. Note that there are TWO photos below today!

I only wish this was taken on a fancy trip somewhere, but no, just the parking lot at my local Trader Joe’s. But it doesn’t matter, does it? The sky shows its beauty to parking lots and palaces alike. I hope you get to see a lovely start to an evening like this once in awhile, no matter where you are.

Visit Skywatch Friday, Pink Saturday, Color Carnival (now in a new home), Blue Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, and Scenic Sunday when you get a chance. And do check out a new tag or category here. Try Nature, perhaps? Don’t forget, you can always see the entire blog  by clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner on top. Thanks so much for visiting!

This leaf star from the yard earlier this week. I will have some flowers to show you soon, but it’s Watery Wednesday so rain jewels are called for.

News flash: My book is getting closer to reality. It’s going to be about the flowers at Volunteer Park Conservatory. Lots of work, believe me, but of course with my very best, most gorgeous photos of their incredible blooms and foliage, followed throughout the year of changing flora. I hope to be able to start taking orders in just a few weeks for August delivery. You can be sure I will keep everyone posted. I’m so excited!

In the meantime, lots of good work all over. Visit Outdoor Wednesday, Thursday Challenge (Wet), Macro Friday, Macro Monday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Wordless Wednesday for lots of photo phun. Do try a new tag or category here first as long as you’re here. And if you see only one photo below, click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner for the whole blog.

Red rhodedendrons are pretty hard to photograph. The sunshine seems to really help me, even though it’s against most photographic advice. I expose for/focus on the bright areas and love how the background falls into shadow. Very mysterious, no?

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more ruby red photos and Today’s Flowers on Sunday. Color Carnival has bright colors, Macro Monday, more close ups, Shadow Shot Sunday, well, you figure it out. Do click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see the entire blog if there’s only one image below. Thanks for visiting!

Hope you are not tired of tulip close ups. It’s actually been sunny the last couple of days here in Seattle, so a morning walk was just the thing. Some tulips are still around, and this one was glorious. Now it can live forever on the internet at its peak of beauty.

Macro Flowers Saturday is back! Visit Maia there as she’s sure to have some lovelies. Also check out Macro Friday, Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Skywatch Friday, Today’s Flowers, Blue Monday and Macro Monday. If only you see only one photo below, do click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete display.

I just felt like revisiting and sharing this scene, from a camping trip we took last August to the Dungeness Recreation Area near Sequim (pronounced skwim) on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. This area gets much, much more sunshine than the surrounding areas including Seattle, let alone the rainforest. There is a simple trail along the bluff over the water that is astoundingly scenic. The water is Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, I believe, with Canada a short bit across the water to the right. I hope you enjoy this vista. I like it so much I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, Skywatch Friday, Scenic Sunday, Pink Saturday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Wordless Wednesday for more photo fantasticness. Always find the latest posts here by clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above. Maybe try a new category like Nature first? Thanks so much for visiting.

There’s a garden meme called Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, and each month on the fifteenth people post what’s blooming in their garden that day. It’s quite a show. Some posts give me such spring-weather envy I cannot tell you. We are having serious warm-weather delay in Seattle, with the coldest April on record and heading that way for May, too. But occasionally there are dry spells, and if it hits 60 degrees F we are so happy!

This large Blushing Lady tulip didn’t bloom at all last year and I thought she was dead, but she sent up two (out of 6 bulbs) flowers after taking the year off and I do love this tulip. I’ve learned that you mustn’t plant things that need watering over them for the summer, because it causes the bulbs to rot. So much for that garden plan. I’ll have to find a spot that I don’t want to plant in the summer for next year, and plant new tulips there.

Behind the tulip are rust-colored wallflowers and to the left are red rhododendrons.

Visit Macro Friday, Today’s Flowers, Ruby Tuesday, Scenic Sunday, Macro Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Pink Saturday and Outdoor Wednesday for more photo fun. Do click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see the latest photos here. Thanks for visiting!

If you’re ever in the Portland, Oregon area in the springtime, this place is a must-see. Enormous, magnificent, and brilliantly conceived and tended, it just knocked my socks off. Rain or shine, a scenic wonderland. Please see Free Photos “next door” (link below the header above) for more from that locale. You can search there for Japanese garden if that series is no longer at the top.

I love this photo and have called it my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Ruby Tuesday, Weekend Reflections, and Watery Wednesday for more intriguing photos. Browse around here first, perhaps by visiting the category for “Weekend Reflections”? Remember, always see the latest photos here by clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner.