Took a walk this afternoon and was lucky enough to happen past this pretty scene in the brief bit of sunshine, before the cloud cover took over. Isn’t backlighting the greatest? I just love the way it looks in a garden. I like it so much I’m calling this my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday, and Outdoor Wednesday for more photo frolics. Clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above brings you back to the latest post here always.

You can’t beat the Pacific Northwest when it comes to rhododendrons. Some tower over the landscape, some are solidly covered with blooms, some are just thrilling in their abundance. I only wish for fragrance, but I’m like that. An iffy bloom with fragrance trumps stupendous with none, or I’d like to think so. Color combos like this one, however, make me set that prejudice aside!

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Sunshine today, sunshine this weekend, yay and yay! Went out and snapped a million (well, a few) photos in the late afternoon light, of course my fave, considering I am not a morning person by any means. The lupines did remarkably well this winter. I think it was so cold this spring that the slugs stayed sleeping and let them get going unmolested. I planted these from seed maybe three years ago and look at them!

Visit Pink Saturday, Scenic Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Shadow Shot Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Outdoor Wednesday for fabulous photo fun. Click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner to see the complete blog  here, if you have a minute.

You could probably do a book on just the pink flowers at Volunteer Park Conservatory, but I won’t go that far. The new book I’m working on at this very moment will have all colors of flowers in it, not just pink, although the idea is tempting for those of us who adore pink. And all kinds of foliage, too, of course! Until the book is ready, sometime this summer, I strongly suggest that locals and visitors to Seattle explore this magnificent hidden gem.

Pink Saturday is having a special celebration this week, their 3-year blogoversary! Lots of fabulous pinkness there, to be sure. Also check out Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Today’s Flowers and Macro Flowers Saturday. Happy long weekend to all my USA visitors. Note that there are TWO photos below today!

I only wish this was taken on a fancy trip somewhere, but no, just the parking lot at my local Trader Joe’s. But it doesn’t matter, does it? The sky shows its beauty to parking lots and palaces alike. I hope you get to see a lovely start to an evening like this once in awhile, no matter where you are.

Visit Skywatch Friday, Pink Saturday, Color Carnival (now in a new home), Blue Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, and Scenic Sunday when you get a chance. And do check out a new tag or category here. Try Nature, perhaps? Don’t forget, you can always see the entire blog  by clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner on top. Thanks so much for visiting!

Hope you are not tired of tulip close ups. It’s actually been sunny the last couple of days here in Seattle, so a morning walk was just the thing. Some tulips are still around, and this one was glorious. Now it can live forever on the internet at its peak of beauty.

Macro Flowers Saturday is back! Visit Maia there as she’s sure to have some lovelies. Also check out Macro Friday, Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Skywatch Friday, Today’s Flowers, Blue Monday and Macro Monday. If only you see only one photo below, do click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete display.

I just felt like revisiting and sharing this scene, from a camping trip we took last August to the Dungeness Recreation Area near Sequim (pronounced skwim) on the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. This area gets much, much more sunshine than the surrounding areas including Seattle, let alone the rainforest. There is a simple trail along the bluff over the water that is astoundingly scenic. The water is Puget Sound, the Strait of Juan de Fuca, I believe, with Canada a short bit across the water to the right. I hope you enjoy this vista. I like it so much I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Outdoor Wednesday, Watery Wednesday, Skywatch Friday, Scenic Sunday, Pink Saturday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) and Wordless Wednesday for more photo fantasticness. Always find the latest posts here by clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above. Maybe try a new category like Nature first? Thanks so much for visiting.

There’s a garden meme called Garden Bloggers’ Bloom Day, and each month on the fifteenth people post what’s blooming in their garden that day. It’s quite a show. Some posts give me such spring-weather envy I cannot tell you. We are having serious warm-weather delay in Seattle, with the coldest April on record and heading that way for May, too. But occasionally there are dry spells, and if it hits 60 degrees F we are so happy!

This large Blushing Lady tulip didn’t bloom at all last year and I thought she was dead, but she sent up two (out of 6 bulbs) flowers after taking the year off and I do love this tulip. I’ve learned that you mustn’t plant things that need watering over them for the summer, because it causes the bulbs to rot. So much for that garden plan. I’ll have to find a spot that I don’t want to plant in the summer for next year, and plant new tulips there.

Behind the tulip are rust-colored wallflowers and to the left are red rhododendrons.

Visit Macro Friday, Today’s Flowers, Ruby Tuesday, Scenic Sunday, Macro Monday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Pink Saturday and Outdoor Wednesday for more photo fun. Do click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see the latest photos here. Thanks for visiting!

If you’re ever in the Portland, Oregon area in the springtime, this place is a must-see. Enormous, magnificent, and brilliantly conceived and tended, it just knocked my socks off. Rain or shine, a scenic wonderland. Please see Free Photos “next door” (link below the header above) for more from that locale. You can search there for Japanese garden if that series is no longer at the top.

I love this photo and have called it my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Ruby Tuesday, Weekend Reflections, and Watery Wednesday for more intriguing photos. Browse around here first, perhaps by visiting the category for “Weekend Reflections”? Remember, always see the latest photos here by clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner.

A recent visit to Seattle’s hidden gem, Volunteer Park Conservatory (which by the way is trying to raise serious money to finish a much-needed renovation—learn more at Critical Moment on their site), in pretty afternoon light, showcasing the magnificent outdoor tulips. I love the color combo. Their gardeners are just world class.

Visit Pink Saturday, Scenic Sunday, Today’s Flowers, and Outdoor Wednesday for further photo enjoyment. Try a new tag or category here first, why don’t you? And you can always see the complete and up-to-date blog by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos, here or the banner above.