Last year I posted a photo of the leaves of this lovely garden perennial, meadow rue, and here are the flowers. Each little puff is about the width of my finger, and the flowers are on top of a nice, tall plant at my eye level, which I appreciate. Perennials are the stars of the garden, as far as I am concerned. You get them going and they just keep doing their thing, all by themselves. So helpful!

It’s very hard to get the color exactly right. They are really a soft lavender, but this photo looks kind of magenta pink-ish. Sometimes photography seems so simple but is so challenging when you want to get an accurate rendering of color. I do my best, which is all anyone can do.

Interesting blogs around the planet are Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Macro Monday, Pink Saturday, Color Carnival, and Outdoor Wednesday. Don’t forget to follow this blog with the widget on the right if you enjoy the photos here.

I had forgotten that Swiss chard really is a biennial plant in the garden, and was disappointed last summer when the small plants I had grown from seed just didn’t do that much. But after a fairly mild winter with no really hard freezes, the plants are looking just fine. Dinner! I like to pick a good bunch, cut the stems from the leaf parts, roll up the leaves and slice in half inch ribbons. Then start steaming the cut-up stems first, add the leaves after a few minutes, and when picked fresh from your garden, they don’t take long to cook. You can cook up a nice white sauce with cheese melted into it to go over the steamed chard, or go the Italian way with chard added to garlic fried in olive oil, all mixed together on steamed red potatoes. So good.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Ruby Tuesday 2 and Macro Monday, why don’t you? And if you enjoy the photos in this blog, please click the new follow widget to the right. Thanks for visiting and come back soon.!

I believe these are crocosmia leaves that I came across in the Highline Botanical Garden the other day. I have some in my own garden and they look just like this in the sunshine. They flower (spray of tiny red/orange flowers on a stem) only in late summer and spread so well they might be called invasive, but look at those neat patterns!

Visit Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, and see the complete and up-to-date blog here by clicking on the curly lettering on the banner above.

I’ve taken photos of this pond at Highline Botanical Garden, south of Seattle, before. This latest one was taken a week or so ago on my birthday. Wasn’t I lucky to have some blue sky and calm weather on my special day? Of course you’ve got to be quick, in a city where “sun breaks” is an actual weather forecast.

Lots of lovely blogs out there with other versions of photos with a theme. You might visit Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, A Piece of Heaven, Skywatch Friday, Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Weekend Reflections, and Wordless Wednesday. Do remember to click on the blog title, Sara’s Fave Photos Blog, for the complete story here. And thanks so much for visiting!

I love anemones. They are low to the ground and have no scent to speak of, but their brilliant contrast with those black centers just float my boat. I think I like them especially because I remember them in a still-life painting, by Redon (in google images, type in “redon artist anemones”) and was entranced. Somehow the fact that these flowers existed a long, long time ago adds to their allure.

You might want to check out Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Today’s Flowers, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Macro Monday, and Outdoor Wednesday, just for fun. If you’ve arrived via a link, clicking on the curly letters above of Sara’s Fave Photos Blog will bring you the latest and complete photoblog experience here. Thanks for visiting and hope to see you again soon.

Here in Seattle we’ve had just fabulous weather the last few days. I wasn’t able to get to the tulip fields, but I did get a few wonderful photos in my garden yesterday. That lovely late afternoon light! They call it the Golden Hour for good reason. I hear it’s also beautiful at dawn, but not being an early riser naturally, I wouldn’t know about that. Late in the day for me! These bleeding hearts or dicentra are very happy in our acid soil up here, as are the sweet forget-me-nots you can see on the left. Behind the bleeding hearts is an old-fashioned red azalea bush, all just coming into bloom. I love springtime, and I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week.

You might want to visit Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, Today’s Flowers, and Shadow Shot Sunday 2, for some great photos with a theme.

Author Appearance Alert! I will be meeting fans and signing books at the gorgeous shop Martha E. Harris Flowers & Gifts in Madison Park in Seattle on Friday, April 27, 1-4pm. And we’ll have jewelry made from the book to check out! Please come and say hello.

I do like watching what the pros plant. This flowerbed of spring bulbs and pansies is such a vibrant color combination. I usually think of spring as pinks and pales, but this makes me rethink that. What do you plant for spring in your own garden? Deep colors, or Easter-y ones?

Why not pay a visit to Scenic Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Outdoor Wednesday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Mellow Yellow Monday or Ruby Tuesday 2? You can click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above to see all the photos here. And since Google Friend Connect is ended for non-Blogger sites, I invite you to follow this blog with the widget at the right. Thanks!

Browsing through the archives for a water photo for Watery Wednesday, I found this photo of the pond at Highline Botanical Garden (north of SeaTac Airport) taken exactly two years ago. We had sun like this today but it was super cold out, with actual snow decorating the lawn this morning. I was so happy that I had this fresh-looking scene to share with you today.

You might also enjoy Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, A Piece of Heaven, Weekend Reflections,  Shadow Shot Sunday 2, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Skywatch Friday.

I invite you to become a follower of this blog with the new Linky Followers widget to the right, now that Google Friend Connect has been discontinued for non-Blogger sites. On with the new!

One of my neighbors has a rhodie that is the first to bloom in the area. Mid-February and showing flowers! How thoughtful of them to provide such cheeriness to people walking by.

For other floral finds, visit Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival, Macro Friday, Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, and Pink Saturday if you have a minute. And if there is only one photo below, do click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above for more.

All my photos lately are of ice or other winter subjects, and I’m tired of it. Let’s have some summer sun! These picotee (different color on the petal edge) gladioli, or glads for short, were in my garden early one August, just about six months away from today. That means our Australian friends are seeing these for real! Our day will come, of course. Just you wait.

Lots of fun things to see at Mellow Yellow Monday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Pink Saturday if you love photography. Isn’t the internet wonderful? If only one photo is below, do click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner on top to see the whole deal here.