Stopping by Seattle’s iconic Pike Place Market today I saw a whole cartload of tulips in the rain. Since tomorrow’s my birthday, a special treat for you is TWO tulip photos. Hope you like them. I really do, so I’m calling it my my Best Post of the Week.

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Football lily, or Haemanthus multiflorus, is a new flower for me. I found this in the Wave Hill conservatory, on my recent visit to New York City. I am including the second photo so you can see the fascinating green starburst, spiky bud form as well. The flowers were almost as big as my hand!

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Tonight I was at the Volunteer Park Conservatory, attending its annual Friends of the Conservatory meeting. The first part was in the Conservatory itself, with perfect late afternoon light showing off many of the exquisite floral displays to perfection. Here is an orange hibiscus flower, all glowing in the light.

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If you’ve visited Seattle, you’ve probably visited Pike Place Market, home of the original Starbucks and flying fish vendors and all that. But you might not know that the north section with the fresh flower vendors is filled only with flower vendors who grow all their own flowers. Nothing is shipped in from Chile, just all local blooms from the Seattle area fields and farms. You’ll see flower combos like you have never seen anywhere else, and the masses of tulips on display right now are just something else. I love tulip season!

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I was lucky enough to go the New York Botanical Garden‘s Orchid Show which continues until April 22. If you get a chance, you must go. Ravishing, wonderful, gorgeous! Not just a bunch of flowers, but so exquisitely displayed. And New York City has been having an amazing springtime, so my favorite pink trees in full bloom graced the grounds around the Enid Haupt Conservatory that houses the orchid show.

Here is one lovely orchid for your viewing pleasure. Visit Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Ruby Tuesday 2 and Pink Saturday for more fun photos with a theme. If you’ve arrived via a link, clicking on the curly letters of Sara’s Fave Photos above will get you the complete blog here.

I do like watching what the pros plant. This flowerbed of spring bulbs and pansies is such a vibrant color combination. I usually think of spring as pinks and pales, but this makes me rethink that. What do you plant for spring in your own garden? Deep colors, or Easter-y ones?

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Some plants are just photogenic, and primroses are a prime example. Maybe it’s the shiny leaves, maybe it’s the simplicity of the petal forms, but if the light is good and the flowers are pretty, you are going to get a good photo of these cuties. I just want to take home the entire nursery-full.

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A couple of weeks ago at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show I really enjoyed the bouquets and arrangements in the lobby area, especially since the windows and daylight was so much better for photographs than the main garden displays inside. I don’t know why the tradition at this show is to have the display garden lighting so low that all the gardens look like it is nighttime. Perhaps it keeps the flowers from going past peak bloom too quickly, or saves electricity, or some other practical reason, but my desire for beautiful photographs without a tripod makes that so challenging. So here is a quirky and lovely bouquet in a branch in the lobby, just because.

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If primroses are in the garden shops, it must be spring! I was lucky when at a new garden shop the other day, as it was getting pretty late in the afternoon but was briefly sunny, so the light was at that perfect slanty angle I love. Well, it DID hail and snow a bit today, but it didn’t stick, and then the sun was out soon after, no trace left behind. Let’s hear it for plant nurseries. They cheer us up so.

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I have to admit, I love receiving flowers. I can never have too many in the house. While those with fragrance are definitely my faves, who can resist the sensuous curves and color of the florist’s red roses? Hope you had a loving Valentine’s Day.

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