This is one of the 150 or 200 tulips we planted in our garden last fall, photographed the other day after the soft rain stopped. I totally love them.

They take a lot of work to plant, you know. In the fall in a spot with excellent drainage, you have to dig quite deep, a good foot. Fill back half way, improve the soil with compost and a couple of handfuls of bone meal, then place the bulbs (a few inches apart) on that, about six inches from the top surface, pointed end up. Fill the hole with more good soil, and wait eagerly for spring.

Visit Watery Wednesday after your visit here for more water photos of all kinds. To return to the full blog with my latest post on top, click on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

I have been tulip happy lately and I hope you aren’t tired of them yet. This is yet another Skagit Valley tulip for your enjoyment.

Visit Macro Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday and Color Carnival after you sojourn here. And rememeber, you can always get back to the full blog with everything on it by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos on top.

This one gets my vote for Best Post of the Week, too.

Here’s the thing about apples: they must have cross pollination to set fruit. And even if there is another apple tree nearby, if the bees aren’t out doing their thing, you may have to help nature along. Here in Seattle where sunshine is an occasional thing (“sun breaks,” anyone?) it will definitely increase your harvest to get out there and help.

How? Take a clean, dry, soft artist’s paintbrush, or even a Q-tip, and brush the pollen carefully on a bunch of flowers on Tree A. Then go to Tree B (a different apple variety) and brush some more. Back and forth a few times should do it. Of course for a big tree, you can only do so much, but for dwarf backyard trees, you will make a huge difference.

We have two trees of the “columnar” type. They’re a super skinny, super dwarf size, good in containers, and both can be hand pollinated in just a few minutes. Go back in a few days when more blossoms have opened and do it again. You’ll be glad you did.

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These were taken by my sister when we visited the tulip festival last week. I think hers are pretty wonderful. I wish I took that top one!

Please visit Macro Flowers Saturday, Color Carnival, Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday and Scenic Sunday after your visit here.

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This one below is of me.

I was in the back yard a couple of weeks ago, admiring the magnolia tree in the late afternoon light, when I saw the moon in the sky. Thank goodness I try to keep my camera in my pocket at all times!

Visit Skywatch Friday for more skies seen round the world, and Pink Saturday for more sweet pinkitude of all sorts. And remember, you can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to return to the full blog with my latest post on top.

I really like the way the clouds and the magnolia blossoms both seem to dance. I’m calling this one my Best Post of the Week. Hope you agree.

This gray, gray, rainy and cold weather Seattle has been having has me longing for summer. Or spring! Seems like we are back in winter again, somehow. So it’s time to delve in the archives for a breath of warmth. This photo is from a truly halycon day at the end of July last year. I have no idea of the name of the rose as it was in someone else’s garden. Wish I had one like it!

Visit Macro Monday for more things seen close up.

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Our Japanese magnolia tree out back has been so beautiful this year. I took these photos in the last week. Which do you like the best? The top one (#1)? The bottom (#5)?

Visit Blooming Friday for more things flowering now (and sadly the last week for this great meme), Pink Saturday and Macro Flowers Saturday, too. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to return to the full blog with my latest post on top.

This hydrangea was taken at the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle just this week. A greenhouse plant, of course it’s rushing the season, but it’s a vision of summer flowers to come.

For more flowers around the planet, visit Flowers For Today. Try Macro Flowers Saturday and Macro Monday, and Blue Monday also. Color Carnival has lots of brilliant color creatively seen, too.

You can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above to return to the full blog with my latest post on top.

These two checkered tulips or fritillaria are ruby colored; perfect for Ruby Tuesday. They came up very well, this second year, as did the sturdy white hyacinths behind them. Oh, the garden is really beginning!

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The bags of tulip bulbs we planted around the front roses in the fall are up, and the first one has opened! See Macro Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday for versions of the theme.

And the delightful grape hyacinths (muscari) in the back yard are coming up so well. This is their second year and they are quite respectable looking. I love how easy they are, that they spread nicely, and that they are practically evergreen and leaf up super early. Visit Blue Monday for more blue things.

And check out Color Carnival for more brilliant colors! And I like this post so much I’ve tagged it Best Post of the Week.

Click on blog header above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to return to full blog with latest post on top.