Today’s visit to the flower vendors in Seattle’s Pike Place Market was fabulous, as usual. They have lilies (and sweetpeas) in magnificent quanties, combined in surprising and unique bouquet combinations as always. This one with a lily and a happy jumble of other garden flowers beats out any supermarket bunch any day.

Visit Macro Flowers Saturday for more flower close ups, and Color Carnival for more brilliant color. This one is straight out of the camera, or SOOC, too. And try a new tag or category here while you’re here, returning to the full blog at Sara’s Fave Photos as always.

In California, it is illegal to pick the orange poppies growing by the side of the road, as they are the beloved state flower. I heard you can’t even pick them in your garden, but that can’t be true. Here in Seattle, they grow very well also, maybe too well sometimes. They actually are great in bouquets. Clipping the long seedpods will extend the bloom quite a bit and help prevent way too many plants from appearing everywhere.

So, which view do you prefer? Leave a comment and let me know.

Visit Color Carnival for more brilliant color and Shadow Shot Sunday for more intriguing shadows. Both shots were straight out of the camera, or SOOC. And I like this post so much I’ve called it my Best Post of the Week.

Took this yesterday in the brilliant sunshine we had so briefly. It’s the flower border we put in two summers ago. Not too bad for just getting established. I’m trying to use fewer and fewer annuals so it will just do its thing, but of course there must be flowers continuously spring through fall, if at all possible. I’m working on it. The veggie beds are to the right.

Visit Flowers for Today for more flowers around the world. And happy Independence Day to my American readers!

At the Woodlawn Park Rose Garden the other day, some roses were just rioting in bloom. I didn’t get the names of all of those I photographed (bad Sara! I sometimes get too carried away with their gorgeousness) but here is a fine vision of pink floribunda roses for your enjoyment. If only the screen had a scratch ‘n’ sniff button!

Do visit Pink Saturday for more things pink. And you might try the Pink tag or search here, easily returning to the latest posts by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos.

This is also an entry for SOOC, or straight out of the camera, Scenic Sunday and Color Carnival. Have fun in blogland!

This was taken just a few minutes before the shot at the overlook below. You can see the dusky skies in the background. Such sweet pink tips on the blooms, no?

Visit Macro Flowers Saturday if you like flower closeups. There are some great ones there! You are welcome to browse around here first, if you like. Returning to the main blog page is easy; just click on Sara’s Fave Photos.

I snuck out of the office yesterday and wandered a bit around the Woodland Park Rose Garden in Seattle. I could have spent hours there. It’s huge, two and a half acres, 280 kinds of roses, all kinds of goodies like a gazebo for weddings, a reflecting pool with water lilies, the works. It’s so much fun to see big beds of ones I recognize. I’ll be sharing a few nice shots I took there, which is one of the best parts of blogging. On with the roses!

Try searching for “rose” or perhaps “tulip” while you’re here. And returning to the latest post is easy: click on Sara’s Fave Photos above. Visit Scenic Sunday for more interesting and beautiful sights around the world and Color Carnival for more great color.

Yesterday the sun peeked out for a bit and the flowerbed near our patio is at its peak, so here’s a photo for you to enjoy. The pink ones in front are Sweet Williams, a perennial, the blue ones are bachelor buttons which reseeded themselves, the spiky red stuff in back is penstemon, the magenta on silver in back is rose campion, the soft pink in back is astilbe, and the white on the left is a volunteer feverfew, great for bouquets. Visit Today’s Flowers for more flowers all around the world.

Not really blue, more blue violet, this anemone (a-NEH-moan-ee) is blooming WAY late, it seems to me, but I am happy to see it grace the early summer garden like this. Such a cutie.

Visit Macro Flowers Saturday and see more lovely blooms and SOOC to see more straight-out of-the-camera shots. If wandering around this site, try a new search term like Tulip or Begonia. Why not? Return to the full blog by clicking Sara’s Fave Photos above.

The peonies in my garden are finally in bloom and magnificent. These few in a vase were so long awaited and so much appreciated. They are an entry on the theme of “Soft” for Thursday Challenge and also pink for Pink Saturday.

Click on a couple of things if you have time but return to the latest post by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

I took a walk in the Wallingford neighborhood of Seattle last week.

This old-fashioned rose with a single row of petals sometimes is prettier than the huge ruffled kind. Below that is ceanothus (see-an-OH-thus), or Wild Lilac in California, or California Lilac up here in Seattle. It also has a sweet scent and can become quite a big shrubby plant, covered in blue in the spring. When I lived in Northern California, it was common and wild, and bloomed with yellow broom on the rolling hills. Pretty nice!

Visit Macro Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday and Blue Monday after wandering about here.