This is my little carniverous Cape Sundew (drosera capensis) plant that I got to help with fruit flies in my kitchen. The plant is about as wide as my hand, and the flower stem is almost a foot tall! I don’t know that it traps all that many fruit flies, but it’s cute, and I was thrilled when it recently began to flower. As instructed, I keep the saucer half filled with water, in part sun, and it seems to be happy. Bonus: TWO photos this post!

Cape Sundew (drosera capensis) on my windowsill with a few tiny fruit flies in its feathery leaves. The flower stem is at upper right.

Tiny pink Cape Sundew flowers, each less than half an inch (1 cm) on a stem about 12″ tall.  Only one flower blooms at a time.

Linking to Our World Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Pink Saturday, My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. Thanks for visiting and please come back soon.

In my backyard…

Swirly puffs of white clouds in a blue sky

Linking up to Skywatch Friday, Our World Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Weekends, My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. Thank you for visiting here and please—come back soon.

Hydrangeas are some of my top fave flowers, blooming all summer and even looking good into the fall.

Hydrangea blooms with fall color

Connecting to Our World Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Outdoor Wednesday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, NF Catching the Light Monday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Orange You Glad It’s Friday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Pink Saturday, My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. Try a new tag or category while you are here, and please visit again soon.

This is a close up of a cotoneaster (ka-tone-ee-AST-er) shrub in our yard, beloved by birds and photographers alike. The berries are small, about the size of a pea, and they adorn the arching branches in fall and winter. I was amazed to learn its pronunciation, by the way. I was sure it would be something like cotton-Easter. But no.

Bright red cotoneaster berries add color and bird food to a backyard

Linking with Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Outdoor Wednesday, Garden Party Thursday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, NF Catching the Light Monday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. If only one photo is visible here, please click on Sara’s Fave Photos above. Thanks!

California poppies (the State Flower of California) are so beautiful in their simplicity. Very pretty and dependable in the garden, but reseed almost too easily. I deadhead to keep them from taking over.

Orange California poppies in my Seattle garden

Joining up with Skywatch Friday, Our World Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Outdoor Wednesday, Garden Party Thursday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, NF Catching the Light Monday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Orange You Glad It’s Friday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. Thank you so much for your visit here and do click on Sara’s Fave Photos above if only one photo is visible here.

They predicted rain, quite a bit, so I went out and cut the fully open roses. What a fine idea I had.

Garden roses in lavender and shades of pink and red, in a late summer bouquet

Linking to Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Pink Saturday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Our World Tuesday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. Thank you for your visit here first!

Combine perfect flowers, perfect weather, and a blue sky, in the late afternoon sunlight…

Lavender-pink cosmos reaches to the sunny blue sky

Participating in Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Skywatch Friday, Pink Saturday, Outdoor Wednesday, Our World Tuesday, Scenic Weekends, NF Catching the Light Monday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Thursday Challenge (Blue), My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. I appreciate your visiting here and please—come back soon. If you’d like some free, easy tips for taking better photos of any kind, download at the sidebar on the right.

String beans are such a great garden vegetable. I love them raw and also steamed, just with maybe a little butter and lemon juice. The purple ones turn green when you steam them (!!) and taste the same, but the yellow ones (wax beans) stay yellow and taste quite similar. They all taste great to me!

Green, purple and yellow stringbeans just picked, with a stringbean plant leaf

Linking to I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Our World Tuesday, My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. While you are here, try a new tag or category at the right, why don’t you? Vegetables/Fruits, perhaps?

Picked these yesterday. Yum!

Yellow cherry tomatoes and some big ones, just picked

Linking to I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Ruby Tuesday 2, Orange You Glad It’s Friday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Our World Tuesday, My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. If there is only one photo here, click on the curly letters of Sara’s Fave Photos Blog above to see a few more. Thanks!

The scenic clouds-and-water post below got me thinking about black and white images. Here’s a version of the cosmos flower post below that, in black and white. What do you think? Color, or black and white, for most attractive impact? Which would look best on the wall?

Cosmos flower in the garden, in black and white

Participating in: NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Outdoor Wednesday, Our World Tuesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, NF Catching the Light Monday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, The Weekend in Black and White, My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. Thanks for stopping by and hope to see you again soon.