This is from a neighborhood yard. Such a lovely specimen of a Japanese Maple. I love this photo and hope you don’t mind me counting raindrops as water for Watery Wednesday.

We went to the Normandy Park Cove beach for the fireworks on Saturday. It was a gas, filled with fun and adrenaline as errant fireworks occasionally zoomed by. And it was loud, too, believe me, since so much was set off at once. But I have NEVER seen such a red sky. Maybe it was all the smoke from all the fireworks being detonated everywhere, but there it was.

For more rubiness, visit the inimitable Ruby Tuesday.

Oh, let’s try a new meme. After all, there are plenty of yellow flowers in the garden, so why not? The name of this one is Broadway. Pop on over to Mellow Yellow Monday for more kinds of yellow seen by people with cameras around the planet.

And since it’s a close up, let’s check out Macro Monday as well. Two for one!

My sister drove me past this field on Friday. It is her favorite. She loves the faint magenta color of some of the plants, and the way there are soft drifts of color. When I asked her to stop the car so I could take a picture, she said, “I KNEW you’d want to do that.” She does know me, I guess.

For more scenic photos here and there and everywhere, visit Scenic Sunday.

The little plants I showed you a week or so ago are going gangbusters. Sweetpeas like to be picked, you know, so I must pick bouquets with fragrance like no other to enchant me and give away. What else can I do?

Here’s how to raise great sweetpeas: 1) You must nick the seed with nail scissors, then soak overnight in a dish of water before planting. The seeds are big and pretty easy to handle and it really doesn’t take long. You will see that the nicked ones swell and are ready to go and the ones that didn’t get the outside casing pierced sit there, small and hard.

2) Plant as directed, indoors in early spring if you want.

3) When planting outdoors, put them in a place where heat will not be a problem if possible. An eastern exposure like these have helps. But the big thing is, sweetpeas love manure. When planting, dig a double handful of bagged steer manure into the soil around each one. Then wait patiently for heaven in a flower to appear.

For more floriferous photos, visit Flowers For Today. Everyone likes flowers!

And hello to the Color Carnival crew. We all love bright colors; such a happy feeling.

I was up earlier than usual last week, and the morning sun was already strong. Look what I saw on my patio, waiting for Shadow Shot Sunday!

Happy Fourth of July to all. May we all enjoy the freedom and independence of this American holiday.

I love roses. I grow them, smell them, photograph them, as much as I can. This one was in a Federal Way garden. The owner said it’s a David Austin rose, and that’s all I know. The big old bush was loaded with them, but this one was perfect.

Visit Pink Saturday for more pink perfection.

Driving near Seatac (Seattle-Tacoma, in case you wondered) Airport recently, the weather was changing quite rapidly, and I thought you’d like to see this dramatic sky for Skywatch Friday. Yes, it rained hard not long afterwards! Visit Skywatch Friday for skies seen and posted from everywhere, through the magic of the internet.

It’s still June, so how can you resist roses? Here’s one for you to wish you could inhale off the computer screen. Some day, I am sure, it will happen.

For more rubiness of all kinds, visit Ruby Tuesday, here.

A close look at a poppy flower that was blooming in my neighborhood about three weeks ago. The blossom was quite large, maybe 4 or 5 inches across. After this kind of poppy fades, the seed pods are quite interesting, too.

For other close looks at the most amazing assortment of things, visit Macro Monday.

I think this is bright enough for the Color Carnival folks, also. Hope you agree.