At the potluck brunch this morning for which I prepared the fruit plate mentioned in my last post, our hostess had decorated so beautifully for the holiday. The house had decor including several arrangements with perfect red roses that she had made herself. As a long-time garden club member, no wonder she did such a beautiful job. I loved the idea of red roses for Christmas.

Visit Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, and Color Carnival for more interesting photos with a theme.

And as usual, if there’s only one photo showing below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos, here or above, for the complete blog with the latest posts.

Before I began visiting the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle regularly, I had no idea anthuriums existed in so many forms and colors. Here’s sort of a holiday look for you in red and green. And don’t you just love the heart-shaped leaves?

This tropical plant is a great entry for the Hot, Loud and Proud plant and flower meme out of Hawaii. And Color Carnival has more bright colors for you.

If there’s only one photo below, it means there are tons more for you if you click on Sara’s Fave Photos here or above.

These starry yellow mums with orange centers are just so cheerful, aren’t they? They almost look like the fall version of some daffodils. In any case, here they are for your gray weather pick-me-up. They were on display at the Volunteer Park Conservatory a couple of weeks ago.

Visit Macro Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday for more neat photos. Color Carnival has more bright colors, too.

Only one photo below? Do click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of them.

Well it’s snowing hard outside, so winter is truly here, calendar notwithstanding. But here’s one more look at the glorious colors of autumn, taken just a week or two ago. Aren’t those red stems great? I like them so much I’m calling this my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Macro Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday if you’d like more close ups and more cheerful splashes of yellow, and Blue Monday for more blue shades. Ruby Tuesday has more exciting reds. Color Carnival is always a fun browse, too. Taking a look at other straight-out-of-the-camera shots is fun. And if there is only one photo here, be sure to click on Sara’s Fave Photos to see the rest of ’em.

I just love the way this rose looks. So tenderly colored, so perfect.

Pink Saturday has lots more pink things, and SOOC has more straight-out-of-the-camera photos. Today’s Flowers has blooms from around the world. Do check it out!

I’m trying out something new, for me: Twitter. Hey, better late than never. You can follow me @SaraLChapman, and I’ll be letting the world and my Twitter followers know about new posts here as they arise from my magic computer.

If there’s only one photo here, you’ve arrived from a link. To see the entire blog, please click on Sara’s Fave Photos, here or above.

I took this for the bright colors of the purple flower, but really, I think the black one is more interesting. Can you see the silky texture of the petals? I once saw a huge Georgia O’Keefe painting of a white and a very dark petunia, and the brilliant, almost iridescent quality of the actual painting of the dark one made me a fan of in-person art forever. In any case, I think it’s amazing what growers have accomplished. Truly this pansy is practically black. No color or other adjustments have been made.

Visit SOOC for more straight-out-of-the-camera photos, Color Carnival for more bright colors and Macro Flowers Saturday for more of those. If there’s just one photo here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for more.

Here’s a video with a few seconds of water gently splashing into the fountain surrounded by ferns at the Volunteer Park Conservatory.

Visit Watery Wednesday for more kinds of water photos. Weekend Reflections has more intriguing visual reflections for you, too. And if there’s just this one video here, no photos, do click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the full blog. Don’t forget to scroll down for the hungry fish at the bottom of the page.

The weather is gray and rainy, no surprise for Seattle, so here’s some sunflowers taken last month at the Pike Place Market to cheer us up.

Today’s Flowers has more pretty flowers all around the world, Mellow Yellow Monday has more photos with a splash of yellow, and Color Carnival has more bright colors for you. Visit and enjoy!

As usual, if you see only one photo on this page, do click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the rest of ’em!

Had a half hour to kill so I went to a local nursery, just to browse around. Time well spent, believe me. I’ll show the amazing pumpkins and gourds they displayed in another post. Here are just some perfect pink pansies in the afternoon light.

Visit Pink Saturday for more pretty pinkness, and Macro Flowers Saturday, too. Some shadows qualify it for Shadow Shot Sunday, and it’s also SOOC or straight out of the camera.

If you only see the one photo below, do click on Sara’s Fave Photos for access to the whole shebang.

I’m going to be away for a few days, so look for some new stuff when I get back on Wednesday. Ta-ta!

At a garden club flower show last week, amazingly enough there were quite a few specimens in the “hort” (horticulture) section. It had been raining the evening and morning before the show, so I did not traipse around my garden for blooms to show, however I certainly enjoyed what others brought. This branchlet of fuchsia blooms probably did not win a blue ribbon, because I understand that blooms must be at their peak of perfection, not in bud. But I think it’s lovely, anyway.

Visit Macro Friday for other close ups of all kinds, Color Carnival for other brilliantly colored images, and Macro Flowers Saturday always has floral heaven on display.

Do click on Sara’s Fave Photos if there is only the one photo showing here.