This cherry tree near Seattle’s soon-to-be-demolished Viaduct, not too far from Pike Place Market, always blooms the earliest of any that I see. Its urban setting might be a bit dark and certainly noisy, but the somewhat protected space encourages such a cheerful early display. We love it. It will be interesting to see how it fares in the coming years.

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!

Visit Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday and Pink Saturday. Also check out 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.

My daughter is staying with us for a bit, and here is a photo of the pink calla lilies I got her for Valentine’s Day. I knew when I bought them that I would want to photograph them. What heavenly, sensuous curves and colors these flowers have. Wish I could grow them, but so far, no luck.

You might want to visit Today’s Flowers, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2 and Pink Saturday. And using the search field in the upper right could be fun, too.  “Bouquets,” perhaps?

If primroses are in the garden shops, it must be spring! I was lucky when at a new garden shop the other day, as it was getting pretty late in the afternoon but was briefly sunny, so the light was at that perfect slanty angle I love. Well, it DID hail and snow a bit today, but it didn’t stick, and then the sun was out soon after, no trace left behind. Let’s hear it for plant nurseries. They cheer us up so.

Why not visit Mellow Yellow Monday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival, Ruby Tuesday 2, Outdoor Wednesday, and Pink Saturday if you like photos with a theme? Lots of talent out there. While you are here, you might as well click on a new tag or category to find something new you like. And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here. Thanks for visiting!

I have to admit, I love receiving flowers. I can never have too many in the house. While those with fragrance are definitely my faves, who can resist the sensuous curves and color of the florist’s red roses? Hope you had a loving Valentine’s Day.

Check out Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival and Ruby Tuesday 2, for more fun photos.

Last week at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show I was lucky enough to see and photograph the exquisite bouquets in the daylit lobby area. I think that this year they were exceptionally beautiful. When you have such a stunning subject, it’s not too hard to make a really good photo (if I do say so myself!). As I always say, it’s not the camera. For some common-sense tips on how to take better photos that are not dependant on a fancy, expensive camera or complicated settings, you are welcome to download my “7 Secrets to Better Flower Photos” on the right.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you! This floral image expresses love and perfection to me. I hope you enjoy it. And even though not many people have commented yet on it, I love this image and I am calling it my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival, Mellow Yellow Monday, Thursday Challenge (Love), Ruby Tuesday 2, Macro Friday and Pink Saturday for other interesting and beautiful photos. Have fun! If you’ve arrived via a link and there is only the one bouquet photo below, click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner to see the entire blog. Thanks for visiting!

Yesterday I was at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, which is open through Sunday, volunteering at the booth for the Volunteer Park Conservatory. It was great to see such an outpouring of concern and support for Seattle’s threatened icon. Before my shift, of course I wandered around taking photos. The Orchid Society’s display with the big wooden structure evoking the facade of our beloved Conservatory and helping to celebrate its Centennial was the greatest. Here is one of their perfect orchid specimens.

Please visit 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 for lots of lovely pictures from around the planet. As always, a reminder to click on Sara’s Fave Photos above if you’ve arrived via a link and see only the one post below.

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.

Even though the focus is a little softer than I’d like, this image of pink cyclamens from a recent Garden Club district meeting flower show pleases me. It’s funny how challenging it can be to photograph something that is so beautiful, graceful and perfect in person, so full of life and freshness, and make it convey even a small amount of that liveliness. You’d think the camera would just record it, but no. Such is the challenge of a person who loves to take photos of flowers.

Do wander over to Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival and Pink Saturday for more photo fabulousness. And of course, if there is only one photo below, you can click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above to see the entire blog.