Sunshine today, sunshine this weekend, yay and yay! Went out and snapped a million (well, a few) photos in the late afternoon light, of course my fave, considering I am not a morning person by any means. The lupines did remarkably well this winter. I think it was so cold this spring that the slugs stayed sleeping and let them get going unmolested. I planted these from seed maybe three years ago and look at them!

Visit Pink Saturday, Scenic Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Shadow Shot Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Outdoor Wednesday for fabulous photo fun. Click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner to see the complete blog  here, if you have a minute.

Wouldn’t you like to pick up your mail by walking on this driveway every day? I surely do love sunny days and the shadows that result. The pink shrub at the entrance is a real scene-stealer. This sentinel is pieris or andromeda, very popular here in the Pacific Northwest. I read that our soils are acidic and that’s why plants such as rhododendrons and azaleas (and pieris) tend to do so well. Who knew?

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday and Pink Saturday on this long weekend. Also try Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) if you have a minute. Remember, if there is only one photo below, click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above to see the rest of the collection.

This photo makes me want to keep looking at it, so I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week.

Red rhodedendrons are pretty hard to photograph. The sunshine seems to really help me, even though it’s against most photographic advice. I expose for/focus on the bright areas and love how the background falls into shadow. Very mysterious, no?

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more ruby red photos and Today’s Flowers on Sunday. Color Carnival has bright colors, Macro Monday, more close ups, Shadow Shot Sunday, well, you figure it out. Do click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see the entire blog if there’s only one image below. Thanks for visiting!

Hope you are not tired of tulip close ups. It’s actually been sunny the last couple of days here in Seattle, so a morning walk was just the thing. Some tulips are still around, and this one was glorious. Now it can live forever on the internet at its peak of beauty.

Macro Flowers Saturday is back! Visit Maia there as she’s sure to have some lovelies. Also check out Macro Friday, Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Skywatch Friday, Today’s Flowers, Blue Monday and Macro Monday. If only you see only one photo below, do click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete display.

If you’re ever in the Portland, Oregon area in the springtime, this place is a must-see. Enormous, magnificent, and brilliantly conceived and tended, it just knocked my socks off. Rain or shine, a scenic wonderland. Please see Free Photos “next door” (link below the header above) for more from that locale. You can search there for Japanese garden if that series is no longer at the top.

I love this photo and have called it my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Ruby Tuesday, Weekend Reflections, and Watery Wednesday for more intriguing photos. Browse around here first, perhaps by visiting the category for “Weekend Reflections”? Remember, always see the latest photos here by clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner.

One of my favorite things about belonging to a local garden club is that every 3 months they all get together and bring flowers to show (“hort” as it’s known, or horticulture). I don’t care about the ribbons they award, but this particular venue has a skylight over the display tables and the effect on a sunny day can be dazzling. I think this kind of peony is called a single form, but I am no expert. I only wish I had grown it in my own garden, but at least I can take a photo—and share it with you!

Today, I have the honor of being Guest Friend on Today’s Flowers and you might hie on over there to see some magnolia photos I took last week in my backyard. Plus many other lovely blooms from around the world, with a new thumbnail linky!

Visit Macro Friday, Ruby Tuesday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Color Carnival, Shadow Shot Sunday, Thursday Challenge (Beautiful) and Macro Monday for more photo fascination. Do see what else is fun around here first! Click on the tag of “close-ups” perhaps?

Meadow rue is a great perennial plant in the flower garden. I believe that its flowers come in yellow and lavender at least; this one is a lavender. The leaves actually look very much like columbine, but this plant gets much taller, maybe 4 or 5 feet (1.5 meters). It’s getting ready to have puffy, hairy sort of flowers, kind of like ageratum. Doesn’t sound pretty, but it is. I’ll show a photo when it’s blooming, which should be in a week or two. I like tall flowering plants as they just feel so abundant, plus of course the flowers are closer to my eye level.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday, Macro Monday, Outdoor Wednesday and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) for more neat photos with a theme. If you see only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for more, and possibly more recent photos.

Finally a weekend day with sunshine! Yesterday I had such a happy half hour down there with the camera and the flowers blooming; these days it’s mostly too wet to even see them up close. Photo tip: Put your camera on its flower setting and get down there to get some background in that will be blurry. Simple but effective.

Visit Mellow Yellow Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday,  Today’s Flowers, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Macro Friday and Macro Monday for more intriguing photos. Browse around here first, why don’t you, by clicking on a new taq or category. Try the “close up” tag, at the lower right? Or the “My Garden” category might be fun.

This year I think it’s even too cold for the slugs. The lupines are coming up all unmolested, although maybe it’s my campaign with the clippers last year that’s having an effect. Last week the sun peeked through and sparkled in water caught in these lupine leaves.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday, Macro Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, Macro Friday and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) if you have time. While you’re here, check out more photos in this blog by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos.

Someone was dropping french fries off the Des Moines, WA, fishing pier, feeding these seagulls at the water’s edge. I know that it’s very bad for the birds to do this for many reasons, but I totally understand why people do it even if they know better. The birds look so cute as they fly and flutter around!

Visit Watery Wednesday and Outdoor Wednesday, plus Camera Critters this week. Shadow Shot Sunday has more neat shadows, Weekend Reflections and Wordless Wednesday are great, too. Check out Free Photos “next door” to see what’s new, and do click on Sara’s Fave Photos here if there is only one below.