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.

Flowers, flowers, flowers. I can’t understand why some Seattlites say that Seattle only does Spring well, in the garden. Hogwash. There are so many lovelies blooming! Here’s a sweet begonia, about four inches across. I took the hanging basket in over the winter, and here it is again. How easy is that?

It’s a close-up, so fits the Macro Monday meme, and the splash of yellow qualifies it for Mellow Yellow Monday. Both excellent and exciting memes, filled with creativity. Visit or better yet, participate!

This was taken on a HOT day this week at Pike Place Market, world-famous tourist mecca that rightly deserves a must-see if in Seattle. I love the way they have flowers on that roof. Note that the building on the right is not Pike Market proper, but the flowers roof the entrance to the actual market.

Visit Flowers for Today (their One Year Anniversary is next week, and I am honored to be posting as Guest Friend on that special day!) for more fabulous flowers, and Scenic Sunday for more scenic wonders.

Somehow this shadow shot reminds me of a hairdo; I don’t know why. I sure love these sunny days! For more shadows around the world, check out the Hey Harriet blog’s truly fascinating meme, Shadow Shot Sunday.

The tender color of these daylilies from my friend Eileen’s garden is just so beautiful to me.

I can’t get over how many daylily forms and colors are available. These are so different looking than the orange ones I posted recently. I also like daylilies because they bloom well in part shade, which is very useful in most gardens.

One more thing about daylilies: I’ve read that they are very good interplanted with daffodils, as the daffs are dying down as the daylilies are coming up. I like continuous bloom, or succession planting, whenever possible.

For more things pink, visit Pink Saturday, a meme with a really great group of dedicated bloggers who post amazing photos.

We were at a friend’s house on Lake Washington in Seattle, enjoying the perfect weather (finally!) when my favorite super noisemakers roared by. What a kick!

Visit the other views of different skies at Skywatch Friday, a huge and successful meme that has people looking up around the world.

You can’t really call them green beans when they look like this. The yellow ones are called wax beans and the package on the purple ones says they will be green when cooked. We’ll see. They sure taste great just like this.

Here’s a tip: When storing, make sure they are in a plastic bag but DRY (wash just before eating or cooking). Peas like it moist in storage but beans, surprisingly, do not. That avoids the disappointing rust yuckiness. Also, you think you will remember which you picked when, but you won’t. Mark the bag with the date!

Home gardens are the ultimate in local, fresh, and hopefully organic food. And a package of seeds is so cheap, plus the seeds last many years if stored in a dry place. So grow your own! And for more GREEN ideas, visit Think Green Thursday.

UPDATE: I cooked them tonight, steamed the way I always do, and sure enough, the purple ones became green. Check it out! Top one is after cooking a bit and stirring, bottom one a bit firm but tender. No purple! They were yummy.

It’s brutally hot here, record-breaking for Seattle, today in the upper 90s. That may not impress some of you, but I believe that 100 degrees F. is the Seattle record. And only 13% of us have air conditioning. And one forecast says 102 degrees tomorrow!

So! Here is a picture of coolth for all you overheated locals. This is Lake Cushman, WA, taken last week on our camping trip. Enjoy! And for more water visions everywhere, get cyberwet and visit Watery Wednesday.

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.

These fancy daylilies are really something. The colors, the ruffles, the extra petals. The hybridizers have been busy! This was in a friend’s garden and I wish I had some. They do OK in part shade, you know.

Sometimes when I am taking a photo of a flower whose petals are in direct sun, the background blacks out and I get this exciting chiaroscuro effect, straight off the memory card. Isn’t it something?

For more flowers seen around the world, visit Flowers for Today. And for more brilliant color, visit Color Carnival, two great memes.