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.

Football lily, or Haemanthus multiflorus, is a new flower for me. I found this in the Wave Hill conservatory, on my recent visit to New York City. I am including the second photo so you can see the fascinating green starburst, spiky bud form as well. The flowers were almost as big as my hand!

You might want to check out Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Macro Monday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), and Pink Saturday for more photos with a theme. If you have arrived via a link, there might be more recent photos here. Click on the Sara’s Fave Photos Blog curly letters above to see!

If you’ve visited Seattle, you’ve probably visited Pike Place Market, home of the original Starbucks and flying fish vendors and all that. But you might not know that the north section with the fresh flower vendors is filled only with flower vendors who grow all their own flowers. Nothing is shipped in from Chile, just all local blooms from the Seattle area fields and farms. You’ll see flower combos like you have never seen anywhere else, and the masses of tulips on display right now are just something else. I love tulip season!

Take a look at Mellow Yellow Monday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Scenic Sunday, Ruby Tuesday 2 and Pink Saturday for more photo fun. If you’d like to receive email notices for each blog post here, the RSS orange icon at top right makes it easy. Let me know via comments if you experience any difficulty with that. Thanks for visiting!

I was lucky enough to go the New York Botanical Garden‘s Orchid Show which continues until April 22. If you get a chance, you must go. Ravishing, wonderful, gorgeous! Not just a bunch of flowers, but so exquisitely displayed. And New York City has been having an amazing springtime, so my favorite pink trees in full bloom graced the grounds around the Enid Haupt Conservatory that houses the orchid show.

Here is one lovely orchid for your viewing pleasure. Visit Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Ruby Tuesday 2 and Pink Saturday for more fun photos with a theme. If you’ve arrived via a link, clicking on the curly letters of Sara’s Fave Photos above will get you the complete blog here.

Don’t we all love crocuses! But why are they not croci? In any case, these incredibly cheerful small flowers are so very welcome in our gray Seattle weather. And they spread nicely, too. Plant some in your garden this fall and you will be so happy seeing their little sprouts poke out next late winter.

I am on a trip to New York and am posting by preschedule. Please follow this blog on the new widget to the right if you enjoy the photos. Thanks for visiting!

Check out Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera).

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!

Those displays of nursery starts really excite me. Naturally I’d like a garden like this, with hundreds of healthy plants (at eye level!) massed together and all color coordinated, but I am not such a disciplined gardener, and anyway, who has the ready, cultivated beds waiting for such a big infusion? But in buying only plants I love, and fitting the new ones into the existing scheme of things, I do get such a sense of satisfaction. When it works out well, of course.

This frilly purple pansy is just so cute in macro, to me. Too cold and wet for me to go into the garden yet in Seattle, this image will just have to do.

Be sure to visit Outdoor Wednesday, Today’s Flowers, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday and Mellow Yellow Monday. If you have arrived via a link, click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above for the rest if the photos here. You can also click on a tag or category, or use search, for some new images.

I know there’s no point in mentioning fragrance in a photo, but how can you show a gardenia flower without doing that? They were my mother’s favorite flower, and I love how simple and unassuming they are, but so powerful in their effect. Sort of like her. In any case, I wish you a happy St. Patrick’s Day and hope you have fragrance in your life today.

I took this at Swanson’s Nursery which is now carrying my Flowers book in their Urban Living gift shop. One of my favorite nurseries in the Seattle area.

Lots of lovely photos in these sites: Today’s Flowers, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday and Mellow Yellow Monday. Don’t forget to follow this blog with the new widget at right, now that they’ve discontinued Google Friend Connect for non-Blogger sites like this one. Much appreciated!

Daffodils have such great buds. I love the way they look like tapered fingertips with green fingernails. Maybe? Anyway, their strong reach towards the weak late winter sunshine is so much appreciated. They are promising springtime!

Lovely places to visit include Scenic Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2 and  SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera). Thank you for visiting!

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!