There’s a garden meme called Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, and each month on the fifteenth people post what’s blooming in their garden that day. It’s quite a show. Some posts give me such spring-weather envy I cannot tell you. We are having serious warm-weather delay in Seattle, with the coldest April on record and heading that way for May, too. But occasionally there are dry spells, and if it hits 60 degrees F we are so happy!

This large Blushing Lady tulip didn’t bloom at all last year and I thought she was dead, but she sent up two (out of 6 bulbs) flowers after taking the year off and I do love this tulip. I’ve learned that you mustn’t plant things that need watering over them for the summer, because it causes the bulbs to rot. So much for that garden plan. I’ll have to find a spot that I don’t want to plant in the summer for next year, and plant new tulips there.

Behind the tulip are rust-colored wallflowers and to the left are red rhododendrons.

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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!

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At the Skagit Tulip Festival on my birthday earlier this week, of course I took many photos. Naturally! The light was quite overcast, which is not my favorite for photographing flowers, no matter what the experts say. They just seem so much more exuberant in the sunshine, or maybe I’m projecting. But you do get lots of detail in the color. I admit I needed to tweak this one a bit to bring up the liveliness of it. Hope you like it.

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I have no idea what kind of flower this is. It was blooming recently in the Volunteer Park Conservatory, and I was taken aback by its perfect beauty. Any of our blog readers from Singapore, the Phillipines or Malaysia, perhaps, know its name? [Thank you, Flitterkit of California, telling us it’s a red passion flower!]

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more photos with some red. Macro Monday, Color Carnival, Macro Friday, Today’s Flowers, SOOC Sunday are all great places in blogland as well. Click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above to show the full blog here.

Tulips are such fun. They are a bit slow coming this year, what with all the rain and cold here in Seattle, so this is from an earlier year. But soon we will see them! I learned recently from gardening expert Ciscoe Morris that if you plant them in your garden and want to leave them in the ground, plant them deep, which I knew, but do not plant things over them that you will water during the summer. They must stay dry in the summer, otherwise they will rot. That explains a lot. Now I just have to think of a place to plant some where I will not want to put in anything over them that will need water. Hmmm.

Visit Macro Monday, Color Carnival, SOOC Sunday, Today’s Flower and Mellow Yellow Monday for more fun photos. Check out Free Photos next door to see what’s new, and do click on Sara’s Fave Photos if you see only one image below.

Another show stopper from the NW Flower & Garden Show in February. Shows like that help those of us hopelessly addicted to flower photography to make it through this endless winter. I’m sorry I’m so bad with specific names of plants; I only recently learned that this type of orchid with the cup is called “lady slipper.” At least it’s something. Any orchid experts out there with the real name?

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This is a very special cactus to me. A couple of little tiny pieces, the size of the tip of my pinky finger, were taken from a 6-inch plant of my mother’s in Florida after she passed away in 2003, and each eventually rooted and became a plant itself. The great thing about this particular cactus is that the spines are curved so that you can touch it, lightly, and not get stuck. Each plant now has “fingers” the size of my thumb, and this morning I was shocked to see it blooming! And do you see all the little buds on it?

I love this cactus and its surprising flowers and am calling this my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Today’s Flowers, Macro Flowers Saturday, SOOC Sunday and Cactus Monday for more fun blog sites. 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.

I hope I got the name right here. Please let me know if this is incorrect.

Anyway, isn’t it pretty? These are air plants, epiphytes, which live attached to bark and things in the tropical wild. I found this one in my archives from May of last year, taken at the Volunteer Park Conservatory.

Visit Macro Friday, Pink Saturday, SOOC Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Macro Flowers Saturday, Color Carnival, Macro Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday and Cactus Monday. Whew! All great sites with super photography entries you will enjoy.

If only one photo is below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete blog. Thanks!

This was taken at the Volunteer Park Conservatory. In my garden, there are only leaves, but there are a few buds coming. And today I sneaked out in the half hour of sun and planted some pea seeds!

Do check out Macro Friday and Macro Flowers Saturday. It’s also an entry for Today’s Flowers. If there’s only this one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest.

I can’t believe I got last year’s amaryllis to actually rebloom. A miracle! Garden tip: For one thing, they tend to be so top heavy that I’ve learned to plant the bulb in a clay pot, not the plastic one provided in the “kit” sold around here. Toppling over is so not good for those huge blossoms. So after the bloom a year ago I kept the plant on my sunny, south-facing windowsill, kept watering with the dilute plant food I use for all my houseplants, enjoyed the sculptural strappy leaves all year, watched as they died back gradually, and was amazed when I saw a flower stem emerge!

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more photos with red, and Outdoor Wednesday. You might try a tag of RED here (lower right) first, just for fun.