Another photo from the visit to the Japanese garden south of Seattle, Kubota Garden. Note the cherry blossom petals on the walkway, and the darling hellebore flowers in the upper left. Late afternoon heaven!

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday for more intriguing shadows. It’s a delightful collection, each and every week.

We saw the sun for a few minutes this morning, but now all is gray again. In honor of the brief view of the happiness-giving orb, here are two studies in yellow, complete with shadows. Visit Shadow Shot Sunday for more interesting shadows. Go to Color Carnival for more brilliant color, and of course, Mellow Yellow Monday for you know what. Check out Today’s Flowers, too.

The lemons are SOOC, or straight out of the camera. As for the daffs, I couldn’t resist Auto Tone in Photoshop when I saw the neat purple-ish background it produced.

Remember: Now you can always get back to the latest entry here by clicking on the “Sara’s Fave Photos” title in the header, no matter where you’ve wandered in the blog. I invite you to click around, and hope you enjoy your visit.

On a recent visit to Seattle’s Volunteer Park Conservatory, I was impressed at the orchids, but really fell in love with the simple begonias. This kind of thing makes me want my own greenhouse.

Visit Pink Saturday for more visions in pink.

I really like this one, so I’m tagging it Best Post of the Week. Hope you agree.

This photo was taken at the NW Flower & Garden show, so it’s forced and blooming under indoor lighting, but still, isn’t it glorious? I think this kind with the frilly edges is a parrot type, but I could be wrong about that.

Visit Ruby Tuesday for more ravishing redness. And Color Carnival is where the other bright colors hang out.

I don’t want to overload this blog with too many photos, so here are just a couple of fave shots I took on Friday. I do love this new camera. Fun!

For more macros/close ups, please check out Macro Monday, and for more views of yellow, go to Mellow Yellow Monday. And visit Color Carnival for more brilliant color!

Stopped by the NW Flower & Garden show yesterday. Wonderful, of course! Here’s a blushing pink rose, a bit late but here for Pink Saturday. And visit Today’s Flower for more floral magnificence!

They do smell heavenly. But be super careful about getting the pollen on your clothes, as it can stain permanently, I’ve found out, unhappily. I grew this and it bloomed in August. They are actually pretty darn easy to grow, but do put in stakes early, because they get tall and delightfully covered with flowers and then maybe a wind comes along and pfffft, it’s a mess. All you gardeners out there, stake early and stake well! You’ll be glad you did.

Visit Macro Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday and Ruby Tuesday for more great photos in blogland. And for sure, Color Carnival, too.

Some of my 18 rosebushes roses have about an inch of new, red growth showing. That means it’s getting to be time to prune, soon as it’s dry out. I’ve been raising roses for a number of years, so here are some suggestions for all you people who feel intimidated by rosebushes. Feel free to let us know via comments if you know differently.

1) Wear good gloves! Leather is best, cuffs are good. Don’t wear a sweater which can catch on thorns.

2) Use nice sharp pruning shears. I like a bypass style with hooked blades to get in closely.

3) The basic desired shape of the bush should be an “open vase” which lets sun into the center.

4) Don’t prune away more than 1/3 of the rose bush. Roses store food in their canes.

5) For older roses, if you must remove a big cane, take the oldest first. The oldest ones are the grayest and roughest. Use a little hand saw if you need to. Be careful! Do not leave more than a short stub if possible. Dead wood invites insects.

6) Always start by removing dead wood and any scrawny little branches thinner than a pencil. Trim those flush to the bigger stem. Roses bloom on vigorous, new branches.

7) Remove any crossing branches, especially if touching, and any that point or cross into the center of the plant. Remember, gently upright canes slanting outwards is best.

8 ) Cut less than you think. You can always cut more later! Never remove more than 1/3 the plant. Young plants: prune very lightly until rose is well established. Cut no shorter than knee height, possibly waist height if they are taller roses. You probably want the flowers to wind up no higher than your face, and the stems have to grow a bit before they have flowers, so you do want to cut them back somewhat.

9) Make each cut just above new growth that is going to grow in the right direction, outwards. Look closely! Those leaves or red bumps are where the new cane will grow. Leave about 1/4″ of the cane remaining over the new growth joint, using a slightly slanted cut.

10) Break off any small shoots that point inwards or are growing down below a cane towards the ground. Just break it off with your fingers, so the plant doesn’t waste its energy growing a cane in a bad place. You can do this throughout the growing season.

I would wait to fertilize until the weather warms up a bit. You don’t want to encourage tender new growth if it still might freeze.

That’s it! Enjoy your beautiful new well-pruned roses, this year and every year.

Here’s a yellow rose to get you dreaming of roses come June. Visit Macro Monday for more close ups, and Mellow Yellow Monday for more golden hues.

Yes, it’s from the archives, but very soon flowers like this will actually be blooming. The weather here in Seattle has been in the 50s, which is a good bit above normal, and some plants are taking it seriously, I saw on my walk today. Personally, I think we’re in for some cold weather yet.

For more blissful pinkness, visit Pink Saturday.

That amaryllis ‘Red Lion’ has bloomed and I do love it. Very satisfactory. They don’t always do so well, in my experience. The south-facing window with mostly cloudy days helped, I’m sure, plus I’ve learned to put the bulb in a heavy clay pot rather than the flimsy plastic one that comes with the “kit.” Also, they really mean it about good drainage. No wet feet!

For more interesting visions of red, visit Ruby Tuesday.