Finally, those fat peony buds are opening. We’ve had two warm days and the peonies and the roses have leapt into bloom. We are happy.

A pink peony blooms in my Seattle garden

Participating in Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Scenic Weekends, Pink Saturday, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, My Romantic Home, Fishtail Cottage Wednesday, Macro Monday and a new meme, Garden Tuesday. Thank you so much for your visit here!

This duck was swimming right for the visitors with food in their hands, in the Japanese Garden at Seattle’s Arboretum. I like the V-shaped wake it left behind.

Duck swims on water-lily decorated lake at the Japanese Garden in Seattle’s Arboretum

Joining up at Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Scenic Weekends, Water World Wednesday, Pink Saturday, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Camera Critters, Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, and Weekend Reflections. I so appreciate your browsing around here.

This photo was taken exactly one year ago at the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle. Orchid cactus plants have the showiest blooms, many times a few inches across, but for some reason red flowers are the very hardest for my Canon camera’s sensor to capture accurately, and I wish the petals looked more like the actual plant did instead of like a finger painting. But the white center parts make this flower photo pretty special anyway.

Red orchid cactus, or epicactus, blooms at the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle, WA

Joining in at  Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Ruby Tuesday 2, and Macro Monday. Your visit here is much appreciated. Browse around a bit while you are here if you have a few minutes.

In general, I am a fan of the most natural look possible of the natural world. I like photos because they capture a beautiful sight that I’d like to revisit. But sometimes, the lure of “art” beckons. I’d like your opinion. Which of the two images below appeals the most? Which would you like hanging on your wall? Thank you for your input.

Yellow flowers reflected in a pond at the Arboretum in Seattle, WA, color image

Flowers reflected in a pond at the Arboretum in Seattle, WA, sepia image

Linking to Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday (the green one), Scenic Weekends, Water World Wednesday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers and Weekend Reflections. Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend.

We have a neighbor who does a fine job with foxgloves, or digitalis, and yesterday I finally got to stop and take a photo when the flowers were at their peak, the sun was out, and the light was at a nice, slanty angle. Flowers look good all the time, but taking a photo of them is not as easy as all that, at least to get a photo that you want to look at twice. Isn’t their white picket fence the perfect backdrop?

Tall foxgloves, or digitalis, bloom along a white picket fence

Linking in at Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Scenic Weekends, Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, My Romantic Home, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Pink Saturday, and Fishtail Cottage Wednesday. Thank you for visiting and please let me know how you feel about what you see.

We went to Seattle’s Arboretum yesterday for a lovely stroll. Don’t you just love the way a path beckons?

Side note: You can find some of our botanical image Glass Tile Jewelry in the gift shop at the visitor center there, and of course some copies of the “Flowers of Volunteer Park Conservatory” book, too.

A gravel path beckons in Seattle’s Arboretum in the springtime.

Participating in Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Scenic Weekends, Skywatch Friday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2 and A Piece of Heaven. So glad you stopped by! Be sure to browse around here if you have a moment. How about putting Path in the search field at the upper right?

Sitting in a car, waiting for a few minutes for the rain to stop, I snapped this photo. Isn’t it funny the way a color image can look totally black and white?

Raindrops on a car window with a gray sky outside

Linking up to Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Scenic Weekends, Skywatch Friday, Thursday Challenge (Weather-Clouds), Water World Wednesday, and A Piece of Heaven. Thank you for your visit here and I hope you return soon. So many beautiful images in the world to take and to share!

These are blooming in the entryway to my house. The little pink ones are only about an inch or so (3 cm.) across, and I love the way they look like little roses. No scent, of course, but that’s why we put up with thorns on the real roses, coming very soon!

Red azaleas and pink azaleas, with baby’s tears groundcover below them.

Joining Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, My Romantic Home, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Ruby Tuesday 2, Pink Saturday, and Fishtail Cottage Wednesday.  Have a wonderful day and thank you for visiting here.

Bulbs are great. When you find some that are happy where you put them, their return each year is such a gift. These white Dutch irises are such a pretty sight in my May garden.

Simple yellow and white Dutch iris with moisture from a recent shower on its petals

Check out Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, My Romantic Home, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Macro Monday, Fishtail Cottage Wednesday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Water World Wednesday, Nature’s Footsteps Waters Sunday, and Shadow Shot Sunday 2. I appreciate your visit here. Have a great day!

There’s a Winco supermarket not too far away, and their parking lot is quite scenic, as they are on a bit of a hill so the sky shows through the trees. Makes shopping an art experience, if you look up.

A row of trees at sunset in a supermarket parking lot

Take a look at Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Scenic Weekends, Pink Saturday, Skywatch Friday, Thursday Challenge (Weather-Clouds), and A Piece of Heaven. I so appreciate your visit. Please try a new category or tag while you are here: Clouds, perhaps?