This is not my garden; again it’s from the Bronx Botanical Garden in New York City. This section was to inspire and inform the home gardener. While I have planted vegetable beds with flowers in them, I have never seen the plants planted in diagonal rows. So simple, but such a great idea. If you are going to have neat rows, might as well be at an angle, for pretty.

I like this photo for Think Green Thursday because to me the idea of growing your own food is about as green as you can get, especially if you do it the simple, cheap way with kitchen compost to enrich the soil, seeds, and there you go. No expensive supplies needed, just a bit of know how. Just ask a gardener and you’ll learn enough to get you going.

Just for the heck of it, here is a photo of the raised beds from October of 2007 in my last house. The string trellis at the right is for the flat peas which were already done by then. It was a nice garden, but the current one will be even nicer, eventually.

In one of the back areas of the incredible and huge Conservatory in the Bronx Botanical Garden in New York City, I found this fountain. The sound of splashing water was wonderful, and the air smelled so good. I like the way the water looks dark and mysterious.

For more photos of water in its many manifestations, visit Watery Wednesday.

Yet another photo from the Bronx Botanical Garden and my recent New York City trip. This was taken in the beginning of May, and the peonies were ALMOST ready to pop. For more ruby redness of all kinds, go to Ruby Tuesday, a fine place in blogland if ever there was one.

I’m trying out yet another photo meme, Macro Monday. Seems like a fine photo idea to me.

Here are some succulent sedums, or hen-and-chicks, from my recent trip to the Bronx Botanical Garden in New York City. There are a million kinds of them (OK, maybe that’s a teensy exaggeration), but this hairy one is a bit more unusual. Sedums are so pretty, many like little flowers, and tough and easy to grow as well.

This a a top fave flower photo of mine, again from New York’s Bronx Botanical Garden. These little pansies were at their peak, and perfection in a modest little flower, to my mind. For more heavenly flowers around the world, visit Today’s Flowers.

Another couple of photos from the Bronx Botanical Garden in New York City, the top shadow photo taken in front of the famous and enormous Conservatory, which is below it, and kind of scenic, isn’t it? For more scenicness, visit Scenic Sunday.

Hard not to be seduced by shadows from this sinuous bench. For more lovely and intriguing shadows, go to Shadow Shot Sunday, hosted by Tracy, AKA Hey Harriet. You’ll be glad you did.

This tree was blooming so intensely in my recent trip to the Bronx (New York)  Botanical Garden. On Wednesdays you can walk through the grounds for free. Such a deal! I’ll post a photo every now and then from that amazing trip; must save some for the long Seattle winter of no flowers. Hope you like it.

I found out about a Pink Saturday photo meme, and it looks delightful. This ought to qualify!

While I was in New York, I stayed at my friends’ place on the 14th floor in Riverdale, in the Bronx. Here is a view from their apartment on three different days. The big bunch of green trees is Van Cortlandt Park, one of the largest city parks anywhere, I’m told.

For more extremely interesting and varied skies around the world, visit Skywatch Friday.

We went to Chinatown when I was in New York and it was so fun. I had never seen fresh lichees in their shells, only canned (looking like eyeballs but tasting heavenly) and dried, in rough, thin brown shells. I had no idea in the world they looked like this! Well, actually I thought they were lichees, but no, readers tell me they are rambutans! Here’s a link with the difference.

I’m participating in a new photo meme, Color Carnival. If you like color, and I sure do, check it out!

I took this photo at the Steidhardt Garden tour in Mt. Kisco, NY on my visit recently. This incredible place is 55 acres of exquisite plants AND animals, open to the public two days a year. It was drizzly, but hailing from Seattle these days, I’m used to it. This low-growing plant is grown for just how pretty it looks in the rain.

For more photos of water in all its many manifestations, click HERE.