I let some leeks in my garden flower. Why some are white and some are purple, I do not know, as all the leeks seem to be the same earlier, at harvest time. Don’t you love the round balls? Bees sure do.

Leek flowers in the garden, in lavender and white

Linking up to Garden Party Thursday, Outdoor Wednesday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Scenic Weekends, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Our World Tuesday, NF Catching the Light Monday,  My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. Thanks for your visit here!

My gardener friend Sherry (she of the canning jars below) has some beautiful Collette pears on a tree in her garden. This pear is perhaps 3″ tall (8 cm) or so. A ways to go, still.

Collette pears ripening on the tree

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My friend Sherry has a fabulous garden and cans her own food. I am envious!

Pickled stringbeans, canned carrots and other goodies from the garden, home canned in jars.

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Leeks are remarkable plants in the garden. The first photo is the bud enclosed in its casing, with several inches of a green spike on top, looking like an alien hairdo. Below that is the ripe casing falling away, and the buds of the flowers showing themselves. They are at about eye level for me, so a bunch of them make quite an otherworldly show.

Leek flower still in its casing in the garden

Leek flower (about 2″ or 5 cm) with unopened buds, emerging from its papery casing

Joining NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Our World Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, Garden Party Thursday, Thursday Challenge (Flowers), My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. I appreciate your visit here and hope to see you again soon.

Dill is very happy in my garden and reseeds so well that I see why it is called dill weed. But it is beautiful and fragrant, and I love to cook with it, so at least some stays. Here is a flower about the size of my hand, not quite in bloom. Note: the word umbel comes from the word umbrella!

Dill umbel, still partly closed, against an early summer sky

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Today I picked the first real harvest of red raspberries, about a quart. The birds and squirrels don’t seem as interested in these berrries, at least so far. I am grateful.

Red raspberries, just picked in the garden

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Flat peas or sugar snaps, what’s your preference?

Snow peas and sugar snap peas in the June garden

Linking to Ruby Tuesday 2, Our World Tuesday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, Garden Party Thursday, My Romantic Home, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, and Saturday Show Off. I appreciate your visit here very much, and please browse around if you have a few minutes.

I went in a friend’s backyard recently and what did I see? What a thrill to see a fig tree, covered in a LOT of figs. Yippee! I might get a fresh fig or two this year.

Unripe green figs in mid-May in Seattle

Joining NF Catching the Light Monday, Reconnect With Nature Wednesday, Our World Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday,  Straight out of the Camera Sunday,  I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday,  Garden Party Thursday, and Saturday Show Off. Be sure to click on Sara’s Fave Photos Blog above if you see only one photo above. Thank you for visiting!

One more birthday-related post. When I was a kid, my mom usually made us a strawberry shortcake for our birthdays. She isn’t here now, so if I want one, it’s up to me. I had some people here and this is what I made. It was good. Here is the recipe I used.

Lots of fresh strawberries, real whipped cream, and a “from scratch” sponge cake for a perfect birthday dessert

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A few years ago I visited the Conservatory in San Francisco, California, at just this time of year. They had an intensely fragrant orange tree that was blooming and fruiting at the same time.

San Francisco’s Conservatory displays an orange tree in bloom, with fruit

Linking to Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Blooming Friday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Orange You Glad It’s Friday, and Saturday Show Off. Thanks for your visit here and please come back soon.