Isn’t this an exquisite planting? Those new, dark petunias, some kind of yellow striped grass, a dark heuchera (pronounced HOOK-er-a) and the sedum with pink edges look so great together. It’s in front of the door at Seattle’s Volunteer Park Conservatory. Go see it.

Visit Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Outdoor Wednesday, Pink Saturday, and Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera) for more neat photos. Also, the dappled sunlight and subtle colors make me happy, so I’m calling it my Best Post of the Week.

I love anemones. They are low to the ground and have no scent to speak of, but their brilliant contrast with those black centers just float my boat. I think I like them especially because I remember them in a still-life painting, by Redon (in google images, type in “redon artist anemones”) and was entranced. Somehow the fact that these flowers existed a long, long time ago adds to their allure.

You might want to check out Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Today’s Flowers, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Macro Monday, and Outdoor Wednesday, just for fun. If you’ve arrived via a link, clicking on the curly letters above of Sara’s Fave Photos Blog will bring you the latest and complete photoblog experience here. Thanks for visiting and hope to see you again soon.

Stopping by Seattle’s iconic Pike Place Market today I saw a whole cartload of tulips in the rain. Since tomorrow’s my birthday, a special treat for you is TWO tulip photos. Hope you like them. I really do, so I’m calling it my my Best Post of the Week.

You might want to pay a visit to Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Macro Monday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Mellow Yellow Monday, Thursday Challenge (Spring), Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, and Pink Saturday for lots of lovely images to delight you. Please remember that if you’ve arrived via a link, clicking on the curly letters above of Sara’s Fave Photos Blog will bring you the complete photoblog experience here. Thanks for visiting and hope to see you again soon.

Don’t we all love crocuses! But why are they not croci? In any case, these incredibly cheerful small flowers are so very welcome in our gray Seattle weather. And they spread nicely, too. Plant some in your garden this fall and you will be so happy seeing their little sprouts poke out next late winter.

I am on a trip to New York and am posting by preschedule. Please follow this blog on the new widget to the right if you enjoy the photos. Thanks for visiting!

Check out Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera).

Those displays of nursery starts really excite me. Naturally I’d like a garden like this, with hundreds of healthy plants (at eye level!) massed together and all color coordinated, but I am not such a disciplined gardener, and anyway, who has the ready, cultivated beds waiting for such a big infusion? But in buying only plants I love, and fitting the new ones into the existing scheme of things, I do get such a sense of satisfaction. When it works out well, of course.

This frilly purple pansy is just so cute in macro, to me. Too cold and wet for me to go into the garden yet in Seattle, this image will just have to do.

Be sure to visit Outdoor Wednesday, Today’s Flowers, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday and Mellow Yellow Monday. If you have arrived via a link, click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above for the rest if the photos here. You can also click on a tag or category, or use search, for some new images.

Here’s one of Seattle’s hidden gems, the Volunteer Park Conservatory, all decked out in its bright new LED lights. They were installed not only for the winter holidays but also to kick off its 2012 Centennial celebration. I read that there are only three remaining Victorian glass conservatories in the U.S.A.— this one, the smaller one in Tacoma, WA, and the one in San Francisco. What an architectural and historical treasure we have here!

Visit Thursday Challenge (Light), Skywatch Friday, Outdoor Wednesday, and Scenic Sunday, for fascinating photo frolics. Click around the blog here first, if you have a minute. The banner Sara’s Fave Photos will get you the complete collection.

Hope you don’t mind my continuing to delve into the archives at exactly six months opposite our weather right now. These irises in my garden were photographed on the same session as the sunny June garden photo a couple of posts down. In June there are so many lovely candidates for the blog that many pretty flowers get passed over. In December we are extra glad to see them. I hope you agree.

Take a look at Shadow Shot Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday. Macro Flowers Saturday, and a new one, Floral Friday. Have fun! If you’d like to see more here than the one photo that might be showing below, click on a tag like “My Garden” below the photo, or just click on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

Since it’s so gray and cold out now as we approach the winter Solstice, let’s take a look at its opposite, a scene from my garden in June. Isn’t the pink, fluffy meadow rue sweet? Looking at the photo data I see that it was taken at 6pm. It’s a long time dark at that time now, of course. But isn’t it nice to know that the sun will return, in all its garden glory?

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, and Weekend Flowers for more photo entertainment. Fun and free! Of course, feel free to browse around here first, perhaps checking out a new tag or category. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete blog.

A visit to a friend’s garden yielded some actual flowers blooming. These little pretties look as good from the back as the front, I think.

Visit Ruby Tuesday, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Shadow Shot Sunday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, and Macro Flowers Saturday for lots of photo fun. Of course, you are invited to look around here. Clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos will give you the complete blog.

This Japanese maple leaf is from my front yard, photo taken last week. The dark leaf color is already gone, with only red ones now, but I thought I’d show you the combination of the purple it was all summer and the autumn red just beginning.

Take a look at Ruby Tuesday, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera). And do click on the Sara’s Fave Photo banner to see the complete blog here before you go.