I bought this bouquet of a dozen tulips and daffodils, EACH, at Pike Place Market. I was surprised to see the tulips open into this starry shape. The bouquet even had lilacs in it!

Visit Macro Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday and Color Carnival after your visit here. Remember, anytime you want to go to today’s post, just click on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

This shot of Lilies of the Valley (Convallaria) is actually from last year, taken in the Bronx Botanical Garden in New York, but the ones outside my house are just about blooming now, so I thought you’d like to see these sweet and fragrant little springtime bells. Don’t they cast such cute shadows?

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday for more interesting shadows and Today’s Flower for blooms of all kinds. Visit SOOC for more straight-out-of-the-camera photos.

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Here’s another view of the tulip fields taken at the Skagit Valley Tulip festival recently. See the teensy people in the distance?

For more blissful pinkness, visit Pink Saturday. Scenic Sunday has more vistas and other inspired scenery. And you can always get back to the full blog here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos at the top of the page.

The top photo shows the tulips around the rosebed in front of the house, with our neighbor’s house behind them. It was a good idea to plant them there as the roses haven’t got going yet. This year the roses will be early and have set buds already, at least some of them.

The next one is taken from near that neighbor’s house, looking towards the side and backyard of our house, showing that big old cedar tree. Don’t those old rhodies look good? If they had fragrance I’d love them even more.

Visit Outdoor Wednesday after visiting here. And remember, you can always get back to the latest post by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos on top.

This is one of the 150 or 200 tulips we planted in our garden last fall, photographed the other day after the soft rain stopped. I totally love them.

They take a lot of work to plant, you know. In the fall in a spot with excellent drainage, you have to dig quite deep, a good foot. Fill back half way, improve the soil with compost and a couple of handfuls of bone meal, then place the bulbs (a few inches apart) on that, about six inches from the top surface, pointed end up. Fill the hole with more good soil, and wait eagerly for spring.

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This display of tulips outside of Roozengaarde in the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival was the ultimate for me. I just couldn’t get over it. The enormous planting outside their gate was filled with the most spectacular displays of tulips I ever saw. Yes, the $4 admission to the totally magnificent displays inside was well worth the money, but this group of brilliant colors was the most amazing sight of the whole day, for me.

Photo note: For some reason, the technology of reproducing flower color isn’t always perfect, especially blue/purple tones. These purple tulips were the purest true purple in the world, but they look a little mauve-y or magenta here. Sorry, I tried.

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more red magnificence, and Color Carnival for more spectacular colors. And click on Sara’s Fave Photos to go back to the top of the blog.

I have been tulip happy lately and I hope you aren’t tired of them yet. This is yet another Skagit Valley tulip for your enjoyment.

Visit Macro Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday and Color Carnival after you sojourn here. And rememeber, you can always get back to the full blog with everything on it by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos on top.

This one gets my vote for Best Post of the Week, too.

Here’s the thing about apples: they must have cross pollination to set fruit. And even if there is another apple tree nearby, if the bees aren’t out doing their thing, you may have to help nature along. Here in Seattle where sunshine is an occasional thing (“sun breaks,” anyone?) it will definitely increase your harvest to get out there and help.

How? Take a clean, dry, soft artist’s paintbrush, or even a Q-tip, and brush the pollen carefully on a bunch of flowers on Tree A. Then go to Tree B (a different apple variety) and brush some more. Back and forth a few times should do it. Of course for a big tree, you can only do so much, but for dwarf backyard trees, you will make a huge difference.

We have two trees of the “columnar” type. They’re a super skinny, super dwarf size, good in containers, and both can be hand pollinated in just a few minutes. Go back in a few days when more blossoms have opened and do it again. You’ll be glad you did.

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These were taken by my sister when we visited the tulip festival last week. I think hers are pretty wonderful. I wish I took that top one!

Please visit Macro Flowers Saturday, Color Carnival, Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday and Scenic Sunday after your visit here.

Remember, you can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to return to the full blog with my latest post on top.

This one below is of me.

Yet another view from the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival. For more skies seen round the world, visit Skywatch Friday. And try Scenic Sunday for more scenery, what else?

To return to the full blog with my latest post on top, click on Sara’s Fave Photos above.