These coleus plants used to be quite popular as houseplants in the ’50s. Of course today there are many more types and varieties, but they still are the same flashy foliage, pretty if minor flowers. In Seattle they are grown outdoors as annuals, but you can root cuttings easily and have houseplants during the winter. I am particularly proud of these because I grew them from seed, and it was way easy.

For more ruby redness of all kinds, visit Ruby Tuesday and check out this week’s participants.

There was a chance of a light frost last night but thank goodness, false alarm. Most plants are fine with a brush with 32 degrees, but not nasturtiums. They totally melt. Glad we have some more time with these lovelies.

Visit Macro Monday for more close ups and Mellow Yellow Monday for more . . . yellow (you guessed it!). And this one’s for the Color Carnival folks, too!

I do love this Broadway rosebush. The flowers have lovely long buds, and open to fragrant perfection. It’s one we planted just this summer, and it’s very happy. Next year I’ll be cutting more, but this year I’m holding back so they get well established. But you can always take a photo!

Visit Today’s Flower for more floral happiness.

And visit Color Carnival for the brightest and most creatively seen colors on the web!

I’m still in that rose mood. The sun’s been shining, and there are still some flowers on the rosebushes, although this particular photo was taken a few weeks ago. If only that transporting scent could be conveyed to you, dear readers. Perhaps computing power will achieve that some day, but until then, the photo will just have to suggest it.

For more perfect pinkness, visit Pink Saturday.

FREE PHOTOGRAPHY COURSE: http://creativetechs.com/training/category/10-week-digital-photography-course/ Another plug for the best deal on the web, a free photography course. It’s in the middle of the ten weeks, but on Wednesday they are going to cover Part 2 of Aesthetics, and Part 1 was fabulous. It’s free to watch the online seminar, but if you want to rewatch it or watch later, you have to pay a bit. Totally worth it, and so many free resources on their site. Definitely check it out. Superior to anything I’ve seen out there.

You’ve gotta love backyard tomatoes. It’s just remarkable how different they are from store-bought, even those “on the vine” ones with the green tops they sell these days. The complexity and magnificence of the flavor of a homegrown tomato is just . . . well, words fail me. Hope the photo helps a little.

For more fascinating macros, visit Macro Monday. For more photos with at least a splash of yellow, visit Mellow Yellow Monday. And heck, let’s get Ruby Tuesday in on this as well! Anyone for more bright colors at Color Carnival?

Taken from the shady part of my yard, looking to the sunnier area, you can see there’s no problem with having flowers in shade, thanks to fuschias, wax begonias and red impatiens. I love that they need almost no care after planting except watering. The coleus (those spiky things) grown easily from seed did very well also. The sunflower is a volunteer from feeding the birds.

For more flowers around the world, visit Today’s Flowers, and for more scenic shots, visit Scenic Sunday.

The weather has begun a rainy cycle and the roses may not recover. Here is a shot from a few weeks ago. I love roses.

For more visions of ruby redness, visit Ruby Tuesday. And this one is bright enough to qualify for Color Carnival, too. Go see how colorful the world really is.

Since I planted my rose garden only this summer, I am reluctant to cut too much off the new plants, as it can weaken them. So I take a few short stems and put them in a bowl instead of a vase. This photo is one of my top faves.

For more flowers, a regular flower shop of photos from around the world, visit Today’s Flowers.

And for more close ups, visit Macro Monday.

Well, the tomatoes aren’t too big, but in Seattle any ripe tomato is a wonder some years. The little yellow ones were from a volunteer plant in a flowerbed, unlike the started plants I bought and planted in black containers back in May, and sure enough, the volunteer is far bigger and happier in every way. It’s a puzzlement, because the plants in the ground last year refused to ripen, even cherry tomatoes. Sigh.

There’s also broccoli rabe in the basket. I planted seeds pretty early, and they were so spindly, went to seed right away, but THOSE seeds grew and now I have these huge, healthy plants, yielding like crazy. I like it steamed with olive oil, soy sauce and lots of garlic.

Happy Ruby Tuesday!

We had a heavy rain recently and dahlias stems can be quite brittle. This one bent over very far but thankfully didn’t break. Somehow the back of it looked even better to me than the front. At least this way you can get an idea of the border beyond it that I’ve worked on so hard. I love to garden, that’s for sure, so it’s not truly work.

For more pinkness, visit Pink Saturday. Delightful.