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!

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), for more fun stuff. If there is only one photo below, please click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the others.

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!

Visit Pink Saturday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Macro Monday, Macro Friday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Color Carnival and Today’s Flowers. You might try a new tag or category here before you go, though. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos to get to the newest post here.

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

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.

Visit Today’s Flowers, Macro Flowers Saturday, Macro Monday, Macro Friday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Wordless Wednesday and Watery Wednesday for more photos with a theme. Memes are great! Do browse around here first if you have a minute, remembering that if only one photo below, clicking on the top Sara’s Fave Photos banner brings you to the complete blog.

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.

Visit Mellow Yellow Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Macro Monday, Macro Friday, Color Carnival, Shadow Shot Sunday, Pink Saturday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Ruby Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday and Today’s Flowers. Please do click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see the latest photos here. And thanks for visiting!

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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Clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above brings you back to the latest post here, always.

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?

Visit Macro Flowers Saturday, Macro Monday, Macro Friday, Color Carnival, Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Today’s Flowers. While you’re here, do click around here and there to see what you might find. I promise many pretty pictures for you!

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.

Visit Ruby Tuesday, Color Carnival, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Outdoor Wednesday,  Scenic Sunday and Today’s Flowers. Naturally, I’d love it if you browsed around here first. Clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos brings you back to the latest post here always.

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.

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.

Visit Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Macro Flowers Saturday, Macro Monday,  Macro Friday, Color Carnival, and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) to view photos from around the planet. Please do click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see the latest photos here. And thanks for visiting!

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!