This beauty was taken this summer at the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle. Such delicacy contrasted with the massive strength and armed protectiveness of the cactus itself.

Visit Cactus Monday, Macro Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday for more neat photos with a theme.

As long as you’re here, try a new tag or category, or a search, for things you like. Returning to the latest post is easy; just click on Sara’s Fave Photos here or above.

A recent visit to Furney’s Nursery south of Seattle yielded plants and photos. They do an amazing display of a wall of flowers that goes on forever; well worth a visit.

Here in blogland, be sure to visit Pink Saturday for more pinkaliciousness, Color Carnival for more brilliant colors, SOOC for more straight-out-of-the-camera shots and Today’s Flower for more flowers around the world. You might search for “pink” while you are here, first. And if you’ve reached this post from an outside link, you can always get to the latest post by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos, here or above.

We’ve had a LOT of rain. Seattle doesn’t actually get very much rain per year, only about 36″ in an average year. What we have a lot of, usually, is cloudy and dim. But this month has been quite rainy, and due to the late onset of summer, the plants were looking better than they usually do at this time.

Here’s a shot of my backyard cosmos after a recent downpour.

Visit Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday for more great photos with a theme. And if you feel like it, try a new tag or category here, first. Return to the latest post here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos here or above.

I like this photo very much, the graceful arc of the stem decorated with the rain gems really speaks to me, so I’ve tagged this post Best Post of the Week.

This was on a roadside dahlia flower stand, pretty simple operation, gorgeous blooms. I love the way a sort of gray day was transformed into an explosion of light.

Macro Monday, Color Carnival, SOOC (straight out of the camera) and Mellow Yellow Monday are very worthwhile sites to visit. And they’re good categories to check out, too, here at Sara’s Fave Photos blog.

As I mentioned in the post just below, I love going to garden club flower shows to ooh and aah at the “hort” (horticulture or plant displays). This picotee begonia was four or five inches across and it was just gorgeous.

Visit Pink Saturday for more perfect pinkness, Today’s Flower for flowers around the world and SOOC Sunday for more straight-out-of-the-camera shots.

The latest post can always be found here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos above. And I always encourage you to try something new here each visit. Perhaps a category like Pink Saturday?

I belong to a garden club and every few months the various local clubs get together and do a flower show. It’s one of my fave places to find perfect flowers to photograph.

Visit Macro Flowers Saturday for more great close ups, SOOC for more straight-out-of-the-camera shots,  and Color Carnival for more brilliant color. And you might try the “close up” tag while you’re here.

If you’ve arrived at this page from a link or search engine, it’s easy to find the latest post. Just click on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

This is the third year for this hanging begonia basket. Doesn’t the recent rain make the petals look even better? Picotee means those pretty edges of color it has, by the way.

I bring it inside in the winter, it dies back, and in the spring I give it fresh soil, feed it some acid fertilizer and voila! This year the weather was so un-summery that it didn’t really bloom until the beginning of September. So much for summer flowering. Well, I’ll enjoy it all fall until the really cold weather when it will come in again.

Visit Flowers for Today for flowers from around the planet and Color Carnival for brilliant color; Macro Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday are also great sites, and SOOC has more straight-out-of-the-camera shots. Such fun!

While you are here, try a search for something like “begonias” to see this plant last year, perhaps. And if you’ve arrived via a link or a search engine, you can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above for the latest posts.

I know I’ve posted close ups of this kind of lily before, but they are just so showy! And I am so thrilled when something SO exciting blooms in my very own garden. Be careful about the pollen, you know. Florists pull off those pretty pollen things because they can stain your clothes badly. But photos are safe!

Visit Pink Saturday, Color Carnival and Macro Flowers Saturday for great photo browsing, and SOOC has more straight out of the camera shots. And you can always poke around here for something like “pink” or “lily” in the search field. Return to the latest blog post by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos.

There’s a little bonus at the bottom of the page. Aren’t they cute?

At the Pike Place Market in Seattle a couple of weeks ago, the dahlia display was breathtaking. Every color, every form, and armloads of them, all grown locally of course. Here are some red ones for you to enjoy.

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more redness of all kinds. Perhaps click on the tag “red” while you are here? Visit the latest post always by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

Here’s a bouquet of roses I picked for my cousin Sheila who is visiting. If only you could smell the fragrance! The top dark orange one is Dolly Parton (love that name!), the yellow one is Peace, and the apricot one is Sundowner, I’m pretty sure. One day, I hope in my lifetime, there will be a device attached to your computer which will emit odors. Good smells only, of course. After all, if there’s enough computing power, why not? Fragrance is only molecules wafting towards us. In the meantime, you must imagine.

Visit Mellow Yellow Monday, Color Carnival and Macro Monday for more of the same, and SOOC has more straight out of the camera shots. And you might try a search for bouquet here, always returning to the full blog by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos above.