A walk is a wonderful thing, after a rain.

Dark red Japanese maple leaves after a rain

Linking into Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Ruby Tuesday 2, Macro Monday, Water World Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Weekends, My Romantic Home, Fishtail Cottage Wednesday, Garden Tuesday, and Creative Weekends Friday at the Pink Home. “Raindrops” might be a fun search here, upper right.

It’s raining hard right now (the garden is grateful) but this afternoon before it began I got some photos of the flowers on my patio. I have never had such a display. Finally, luck, a little experience, and decent weather have come together in a symphony of color. Wish you could come over and enjoy this with me.

Colorful flowers bloom in pots and around a Seattle patio in late June

Linking up at Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Weekends, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Pink Saturday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Monday Mellow Yellows, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, My Romantic Home, Fishtail Cottage Wednesday, Garden Tuesday, Creative Weekends Friday at the Pink Home and Today’s Flowers. Have a great day and come back soon, hear?

We have a neighbor who does a fine job with foxgloves, or digitalis, and yesterday I finally got to stop and take a photo when the flowers were at their peak, the sun was out, and the light was at a nice, slanty angle. Flowers look good all the time, but taking a photo of them is not as easy as all that, at least to get a photo that you want to look at twice. Isn’t their white picket fence the perfect backdrop?

Tall foxgloves, or digitalis, bloom along a white picket fence

Linking in at Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Scenic Weekends, Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, My Romantic Home, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Pink Saturday, and Fishtail Cottage Wednesday. Thank you for visiting and please let me know how you feel about what you see.

I love lupines. [Where I used to live in Northern California, the blue ones grew wild on hillsides and they bloomed at the same time as orange California poppies. Unfortunately, if you have CA poppies in your garden, you will never get rid of them, and might be sorry you ever planted them and their resulting millions of offspring. However, in the right spot, it’s a winning combo. But I digress.] These purple ones in my garden make me so happy in the springtime, and return every year. Removing spent flowers really does extend the bloom time for them.

Lavender and purple lupines bloom in Seattle in May

Linking up at Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, My Romantic Home, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Fishtail Cottage Wednesday, and Shadow Shot Sunday 2. Anyone know any purple memes? Do share!

This year my garden is looking good. We didn’t have any hard frosts or unusual amount of rain and the plants are relieved. Purple and red is a fine color combination, in my opinion. The red is geum, a perennial, and the mauvy-purple ball is a kind of allium, a bulb. In the back are white Dutch irises, and in the upper right, the peas are climbing.

Red geum flowers plus purple allium light up this flowerbed in Seattle

Joining in Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, My Romantic Home, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Macro Monday, Fishtail Cottage Wednesday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Pink Saturday, and Shadow Shot Sunday 2. Glad you are here visiting!

The bees were out and buzzing today. They love some of the flowers, and don’t care so much about others. This perennial blue bachelor button, also called Centaurea montana or Mountain bluet, is almost too vigorous, but what a fabulous, almost-purple color, and on such nice long stems for bouquets.

A bee busily working a perennial blue bachelor button flower

Linking up at Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, My Romantic Home, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Macro Monday, Fishtail Cottage Wednesday, Ruby Tuesday 2, and Shadow Shot Sunday 2. So glad you could drop by. How about trying a new tag or category, while you’re here? My Garden is a good category to browse, just as a suggestion.

I was at the Volunteer Park Conservatory in Seattle not too long ago and saw this rosette of a succulent in the Cactus House. Did you know they are having later hours for the summer? I’m so excited to hear that. Their new space with the tile floor is so beautiful (see below). Don’t you want to just sit there and read a book?

Rosette of hen-and-chicks sedum succulent at the Volunteer Park Conservatory

Seasonal House at the Volunteer Park Conservatory after remodel

Linking up this week at Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Macro Monday, Scenic Weekends, Fishtail Cottage Wednesday and Pink Saturday. Thank you so much for visiting!

I was at Highline Community College the other day and found this amazing view of the Olympic Mountains and the waters of Puget Sound. The skies have been clear and beautiful this week here in Seattle and we so appreciate it.

View of the Olympic Mountains and Puget Sound at sunset

Participating at Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Scenic Weekends, Monday Mellow Yellows, Pink Saturday, Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, Water World Wednesday, Nature’s Footsteps Waters Sunday, and Weekend Reflections. Thank you for stopping by and have a great weekend.

The color of these primrose flowers is hard to photograph properly. It’s a wonderful blend of purple and magenta and red, with bright yellow centers to set it all off. And those healthy, crinkly leaves. I want some!

Purple, magenta and red primroses with their deeply textured leaves

Check out Outdoor Wednesday, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Ruby Tuesday 2, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Monday Mellow Yellows and Macro Monday. Let’s try a new meme today: Floral Love. I appreciate your stopping by here so very much. Thanks!

These red fritillaria, or checkered tulips, decorating my garden this week just float my boat. Both this kind and the other more purple-and-cream color a few posts below are doing so well in my garden. I love things that just come up and bloom, all by themselves. Those are grape hyacinths in the background, also easy and fun, and so welcome in springtime.

Dark red checkered tulips, or fritillaria, in the garden

Participating in My Romantic Home, Outdoor Wednesday, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Ruby Tuesday 2, Pink Saturday and Macro Monday. Thank you so much for visiting and come back again soon. Sign up for email notification on the upper right so you don’t miss a post.