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?

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.

Begonias bloom and bloom, with no removal of spent flowers (deadheading) needed, and they are happy to bloom in the shade for you. I try to overwinter them in my garden by adding a lot of mulch, which sometimes actually works, or take them indoors if I can. The colors of the flowers and the leaves are so varied. This one is just red, but what a red!

For more ruby visions, visit Ruby Tuesday. And for those fans of super bright colors, visit Color Carnival.

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!

This is another horticultural specimen from the Chinook District flower show last week. I do not know the name, sorry. But it was something to see; a deep, dark red that just pulled you into itself. For more ideas of red, visit Ruby Tuesday. And post your own; it’s too much fun.

Something different for photo meme of all things red, Ruby Tuesday. These are glass scuptures, probably by Tacoma native son Dale Chihuly, high up over the old wooden bar. As a person who has lived for a long time in earthquake-prone California, I sure hope they are secured well.

Picked these this week. Not everyone knows about lemon cucumbers, upper right. Pick them before they get bright yellow, when they really look like lemons! They are quite delicate and delicious.

Happy Macro Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday, and Ruby Tuesday. We are off camping and will return in a few days. Ta-ta!

So now I have this new rose garden, with 18 new rose bushes. It was so much work to create it, but the rewards are immense. I love to go out and clip the fading flowers so the petals don’t strew around in the wind. Sometimes I get a little over-enthusiastic in my deadheading and then I have fullblown roses looking at me soulfully in the clippings bucket. I rescued five of these and put them in a bowl of water.

For more ruby redness in photos, visit Ruby Tuesday.

This is a variety of Swiss Chard called Bright Lights. It’s pretty as a bouquet, with some pink stems, white stems, and here you can see the yellow and the red. Chard is so easy to grow from seeds or starts, and in climates like Seattle, actually winters over sometimes.

Chard and garlic are made for each other. Lightly steam the cut-up chard (I cut up the stems separately and start them first so they cook just a bit longer), then dump all into plenty of hot olive oil that has a whole lot of lightly browned sliced garlic in it. Cook a little more and then serve. A Sicilian way is to mix in steamed potatoes. Yum!

For more ruby visions of all kinds, visit Ruby Tuesday.

A week or so ago I went on a local garden tour and one place had bouquets of flowers on tables. This one dahlia looks more like an illustration than a photo! But I think it qualifies for Ruby Tuesday. Take a look there for more red seen everywhere. And while you’re at it, visit Macro Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday, too! I love memes.