So delicate, so pretty. Summer flowers are so delightful on a cold and dark day like today.

A mass of small pale begonia flowers with delicate red edges

Please see Through My Lens Monday, Macro Monday, Our World Tuesday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Tuesday’s Wordless Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, Floral Bliss Wednesday, Floral Friday, Friday Just Be, and Pink Saturday. I appreciate your visit here first.

This deep pink azalea with white edges was blooming at the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle.

Double pink azalea with white edges blooms in the Volunteer Park Conservatory

Connecting up with Our World Tuesday, Macro Monday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Tuesday’s Wordless Wednesday, Floral Bliss Wednesday,  Floral Friday, Photo Friday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, and Pink Saturday. If there is only one photo showing on this page, please click on Sara’s Fave Photos Blog above to see just a few more. Thanks for visiting.

Taken at Seattle’s VPC in August, this macro of a tropical rhododendron or Vireya is a picture of perfect pinkness.

A pink tropical rhododendron or Vireya blooms at the Volunteer Park Conservatory

Joining up at Ruby Tuesday 2, Pink Saturday, Macro Monday, Water World Wednesday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Floral Friday, Today’s Flowers, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, and Saturday Show Off. Thank you for your visit here and be sure to click on Sara’s Fave Photos Blog above to see the latest images I love.

Raindrops somehow make flowers even prettier, don’t you think?

Pink-edged yellow and creamy petals on this hanging begonia, drenched in rain

Joining Pink Saturday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Monday Mellow Yellows, Outdoor Wednesday, Nature Notes Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Fishtail Cottage Thursday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, Garden Tuesday, Macro Monday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Saturday Show Off and My Romantic Home. A reminder that there’s a free download of tips and hints for better photos, at right. You do not need fancy equipment or know a million settings to take pretty fine photos.

Here’s a shot from the archives of pretty pink azaleas, taken at the Volunteer Park Conservatory in January (!) Thought you’d like a cheerful flower photo on this gray day here in Seattle.

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 followers know about new posts as they arise from my magic computer.

Visit Macro Monday for more neat close ups, if you have a chance. And if there’s only this one photo here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the whole blog enchilada.

This is the third year for this hanging begonia basket. Doesn’t the recent rain make the petals look even better? Picotee means those pretty edges of color it has, by the way.

I bring it inside in the winter, it dies back, and in the spring I give it fresh soil, feed it some acid fertilizer and voila! This year the weather was so un-summery that it didn’t really bloom until the beginning of September. So much for summer flowering. Well, I’ll enjoy it all fall until the really cold weather when it will come in again.

Visit Flowers for Today for flowers from around the planet and Color Carnival for brilliant color; Macro Monday and Mellow Yellow Monday are also great sites, and SOOC has more straight-out-of-the-camera shots. Such fun!

While you are here, try a search for something like “begonias” to see this plant last year, perhaps. And if you’ve arrived via a link or a search engine, you can always click on Sara’s Fave Photos above for the latest posts.

Flowers, flowers, flowers. I can’t understand why some Seattlites say that Seattle only does Spring well, in the garden. Hogwash. There are so many lovelies blooming! Here’s a sweet begonia, about four inches across. I took the hanging basket in over the winter, and here it is again. How easy is that?

It’s a close-up, so fits the Macro Monday meme, and the splash of yellow qualifies it for Mellow Yellow Monday. Both excellent and exciting memes, filled with creativity. Visit or better yet, participate!

I took this photo of begonias out back in my last garden in August 07. They are good plants, never needing their faded flowers picked off (deadheading), and blooming their heads off for months. This one even made it over our Seattle winter a couple of years, but it was heavily mulched, it’s true. I’ll have to plant some here in a shady spot.

For more fascinating flowers around the world, click HERE.

I’m going on a trip to Arizona today for a conference so I won’t be near my computer for a few days. If anyone leaves a comment, be sure I will read it and visit your site when I return. I plan to sneak away at least a little bit and take photos, of course!