This blue hydrangea flower, and the roses behind it, are from my garden. I’ll be away for a little bit; back soon with ocean photos!

Deep blue hydrangea flower up close in a bouquet

Joining up Macro Monday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Photog Show and Tell, Homemaking Party Wednesday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Fishtail Cottage Thursday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, Garden Tuesday, Thursday Floral Love, Saturday Show Off and My Romantic Home. I appreciate your visit here and hope to see you again soon. Don’t forget you can get a free download of easy tips for better photos at right sidebar.

At the dinner party on the terrace last week (see post below) here are the fragrant roses I brought our hostess that I grew in my garden. That great late afternoon light does it every time.

Yellow Peace roses on a terrace by Puget Sound near Seattle

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My tomatoes look and taste great this year. Last year many of them split, which was so disappointing. What I learned was that happened because I had underwatered, so the tomatoes had thick, tough skins which burst when the plant got a good dousing when it rained. This year I was better about the watering and it made a big difference. Also I used better fertilizer, added alfalfa meal at planting, AND went out with a dry paintbrush when it was flowering to try to get better fruit set. Something worked!

Cherry tomatoes in different stages of ripeness

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At a friend’s birthday party in the park yesterday, I brought flowers and there was a purple tablecloth. I like this photo because such a tiny slice is in focus, and that isn’t even much of the big rose and its petals, but mostly the sepal of the bud. Do you like it? Be honest, now.

Double Delight rose blossom with rosebud

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Sometimes petunias in the garden get leggy, and the only thing to do is cut off the long stems, feed the plant, and hope you get a second flush of blooms. I brought in the cut stems and figured I might as well put them in a vase. I was surprised to find how fragrant they were.

A petunia bouquet shows color, form and texture

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From last year at this time, some begonias in front of my house:

Rieger begonia flower basket on a foggy August Seattle day

Visit Ruby Tuesday 2, Pink Saturday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Macro Monday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Thursday Floral Love, My Romantic Home, Garden Tuesday, Fishtail Cottage Thursday and Outdoor Wednesday. Let’s try a new one, Saturday Show Off. Don’t forget that you can download free tips for taking better photos without fancy equipment or confusing settings, in the sidebar at right.

We have a very young cherry tree with five different kinds of cherries grafted onto a dwarf rootstock. This is its second year and it actually had some cherries. I put some old sheer curtains around the fruiting branches and attached it with clothespins, which I had read about online, and it did work to protect them from the birds, even if it looked ugly in the yard. So here are the bing-type black ones that I picked a week or so ago, and they did taste as wonderful as I had hoped.

Do you see that the cherries are so shiny that they are like little mirrors, and they are reflecting my backyard with the tall trees and the blue sky? The trees to the left in the reflection are still in the sunlight and the others are now in shade. Fun!

Shiny black cherries, just picked

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These lilies aren’t the first to bloom, but they are worth waiting for. Oriental lilies bloom the latest in the season, but their intense fragrance (one blossom is fine for a big room or more, in my opinion) is so much more thrilling than the no-fragrance Asiatic types. Be careful about brushing close to them, as their pollen can stain clothing.

Pink Oriental lilies bloom in a Seattle garden

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After the first flush of bloom in a rose garden, it’s kind of spotty. Some bushes are totally done, or at least resting, and some, like this magnificent Camelot rosebush, are just exploding with blooms. My rose bed gets some late afternoon light, and have you noticed it’s my favorite?

Peachy pink blossoms adorn a Camelot rose bush in late afternoon light

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I’ve been picking some of the lavender and put some nails in the carport so I could hang up the bunches, tied in rough twine. And before the mint goes to flowers, why don’t you cut some and dry that, too? Mint tea is wonderful.

Peppermint leaves and lavender drying in a breezy, shaded area

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