It’s raining. Yesterday there were a couple of breaks from the wet; today not so much. Here is a tulip out in front of my house taken on a weekend afternoon in Seattle.

Raindrops on dark pink and orange tulip petals

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These sweet and strange fritillaria bulbs have been coming up in my garden like champs. The checkered patterns on the sides are so extraordinary that when I first saw a drawing of them, I thought it was a joke. Now that I can grow them in my garden, I love the tops like paper lanterns and their lovely, nodding stems. So shy, so strange.

Frittilaria (checkered tulips) nod their heads, in a rainy flowerbed

Participating in My Romantic Home, Outdoor Wednesday, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Thursday Challenge (Spring), Pink Saturday and Macro Monday. Glad you stopped by!

Daphne odora marginata is a fabulous, mostly evergreen shrub that grows very well in the Pacific Northwest. It likes acid soil and not too much sun. I’ve always had good luck with them and adore them for their intense fragrance and also for the cheerful start to the spring blooming season they provide. One little bouquet of these tiny flowers will scent up the house.

Daphne odora marginata blooms on a sunny windowsill in late March

Linking in My Romantic Home, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Scenic Weekends, Pink Saturday, Thursday Challenge (Spring), and Macro Monday. Have a great weekend, and hope you get some sun and fragrance in it. Thanks for dropping by here.

This clump of old-fashioned variegated (green and white leaves) hosta grows in a very protected area at my front door and is up early, almost fully leafed out. When I was a tiny tot in Philadelphia in the fifties, I remember these grew at our house. Plant nostalgia!

Variegated hosta leaves almost fully leafed out.

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The sun was out! Our five-graft plum tree in the back is popping into bloom! This is its second year so we might get a plum or two. I love the idea of five different plums on one dwarf tree. Jars of jam, here I come!

Young plum tree opens white blossoms in the sunshine

Participating this week in My Romantic Home, Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Scenic Weekends, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Thursday Challenge (Spring), and Macro Monday. Thank you so much for stopping by here, and hope it’s Spring where you live. 

In Belltown (a trendy neighborhood in Seattle) on Friday, lots of cherry trees, some with these burgundy colored leaves, were blooming. Here’s a pretty photo with the heavenly blue sky showing in the background. NOTE: I’ve been advised that these are plum blossoms, not cherry. Still beautiful!

Ornamental cherry blossoms at the peak of their bloom.

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The red tips of the bushes are just beginning to peek through the soil outside, but those red tips will become flower heaven, come June. Here are some perfect pink peonies for your pleasure. Breathe deep, now!

Ruffled, soft pink, romantic peonies from my garden in June

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I’m still enjoying the flower photos I took at the NW Flower & Garden show in Seattle last month. Soon I’ll get outside and show what’s starting out there as spring slowly arrives. But these deep purple anemones, paired with pansies, are so perfect and lovely that I just can’t resist.

Purple anemone just coming into bloom

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I have been so happy with my amaryllis bulb which has now rebloomed twice! Here’s a close up of some marvelous petal detail. Can it get any redder?

Detail of backlit amaryllis petals in close up

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That effect where only some of the photo is in focus is always a neat one. I think it’s kind of the way the eye sees, having the brain pay attention to only one aspect of things at a time. Anyway, this pretty crocus with a bright orange center was blooming on this date two years ago, and I bet there are a few out there right now.

White crocus with purple stripes, up close and personal

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