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?

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I love tall flowers because you don’t have to bend down to see them closely and they look good from a distance, and ones that bloom in the shade, reseed themselves, and even appeal to hummingbirds are especially wonderful. These foxgloves are taller than I am, which is not too hard, and their graceful, tall spikes are the true high point of my garden right now.

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Oh, it was a glorious Fourth! In addition to everything else, the weather was PERFECT and warm and totally sunny. We were at a party on the shore of little Lake Burien in Washington state, near Seattle. Dusk and calm and trees and water make for a happy scenic-photo person like myself.

Like many of us, I’m a sucker for sunsets and am calling this simple photo my Best Post of the Week.

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The peonies have been spectacular this year. Some new ones have flowered for the first time. I love the delicacy of this white one, showing faint pink and yellow tones but still that perfect peony pearlescent puff.

Mellow Yellow Monday has more posts with a splash of yellow; Pink Saturday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Macro Monday and Macro Friday are good, too. If there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for others. Happy Fourth to all my USA readers!

This rose is called ‘Blue Girl’ and is sort of lavender but looks pinkish in this light, don’t you think? My roses are finally blooming, after such a long wait. I thought I lost several in the hard winter we had, but now it seems all but one survived, which out of 19 isn’t too bad. I added lots of compost in the fall and spring, and they LOVE it, with blooms much larger than last year.

I love the lighting on this shot and am calling it my Best Post of the Week.

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We visited Astoria, Oregon a couple of years ago, on my birthday. Browing through old photos, I saw this view of the Astoria Bridge over the Columbia River, actually one of the most dangerous stretches of water anywhere, but so lovely on a clear spring day.

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Lupines don’t last all that long, although if you deadhead them (remove the spent flowers) they can rebloom a bit. This amazing patch of them is in a neighbor’s yard. The other afternoon when it was sunny late in the day, I knew the light would be perfect for taking photos of them, so I hustled up the hill and there they were, in their glory. That was just a week or so ago, and this perfect peak has passed now. But the photo lives on!

As you’ve probably noticed, this photo is similar to the lupine header photo. It’s hard finding header photos that work in a very skinny slice! I thought you wouldn’t mind seeing a more rectangular composition of the same scene.

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My peonies are beginning to bloom. Here are the first two I picked from my yard. This year there are dozens of those wonderful spherical buds out there, all plump with possibilities. I love peonies!

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