Everyone loves sunflowers. These big yellow beauties in my garden turn their faces to the sun so nicely.

Rear view of a yellow sunflower against a blue sky

Linking to Skywatch Friday, Scenic Weekends, I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Outdoor Wednesday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Our World Tuesday, NF Catching the Light Monday, Thursday Challenge (Yellow),  My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. Thanks for visiting here and please come back very soon.

The weather has been so amazingly wet this month, breaking records in Seattle, but I want to do garden things. I started some seeds by soaking them overnight first, then put them in produce-type clamshells, the kind with holes already in them, and they sprouted in only 4 days! Here is a sunflower seedling showing its first baby leaves, not the true leaves soon to emerge. I love this image and am calling it my weekly Top Shot.

First leaves (cotyledon) of giant sunflower emerge on my windowsill

Linking up to I Heart Macro Saturday, Macro Monday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Seasonal Sundays, Our World Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, My Romantic Home, and Saturday Show Off. Thanks for your visit here, and stay dry.

Feeling like summer is pulling me towards it. This was my yard in September.

Late afternoon sunshine makes shadows with a wooden backyard bench

Linking up with Wordless Wednesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Scenic Weekends, Nature Notes Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, NF Catching the Light Monday, My Romantic Home and Saturday Show Off. If you’d like to see a few more pretty pictures, please click on Sara’s Fave Photos Blog above, and please come back soon!

This huge sunflower in my garden wasn’t quite ripe as of last week, but I thought I’d better get a photo now before the birds and squirrels discovered the delicious seeds.

Giant sunflower ripens its seeds, in a beautiful pattern

Visit Macro Monday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Fishtail Cottage Thursday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, Garden Tuesday, Saturday Show Off and My Romantic Home. Thanks for stopping by and please come back soon.

There are so many kinds of sunflowers these days. I kind of like the old fashioned kind that makes seeds in the middle. This one didn’t grow too tall, but it certainly was doing its thing, seed-wise. A few days later, the birds and squirrels had poked out some of its hypnotic perfection, but so it goes.

Participating in My Romantic Home, Flower Art Friday, Flowers on Saturday, Weekend Flowers, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Macro Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, Floral Friday, and Mellow Yellow Monday. If there is only one photo below, please click on the Sara’s Fave Photos Blog letters above. Or maybe do a search for sunflowers in the upper right?

Farmers markets are supposed to be all about fresh, healthy, local produce, but I mostly go for the flowers. Buckets of fresh flowers, there for me and my admiring camera. I usually ask if I may take photos, and they almost always say yes. The berries and cherries usually get my dollars, but those flowers fill my (mental and electronic) memory card.

Visit Mellow Yellow Monday, Outdoor Wednesday, Color Carnival, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Today’s Flowers, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday and Macro Friday. Browse around here first, why don’t you? Clicking on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner will always bring you to the latest post here.

This sunflower, photo taken in my garden in September, is actually a volunteer plant, sown accidentally by the birds or squirrels from the black oil sunflower seeds they love to eat. It’s a good system. The birds spill a ton of seed from the feeder on a pole on the lawn, and the squirrels who cannot raid the baffled feeder are the clean-up crew on the ground. Everyone fat and happy, and the contented squirrels seem to leave the tulips and daffodill bulbs alone.

Visit Macro Monday for more close ups and Mellow Yellow Monday while you’re out and about, along with Color Carnival.

Free Photography Lighting Class starts tomorrow, Tuesday, 11am Seattle time. I’m registered and can’t wait. These classes (I’ve taken others from this group) are just super, and they are free.

We are going camping for a few days so I’ll post two photos today for you.

Yesterday there was a garden tour pretty close by and the weather was superb. One lovely place had this view of Puget Sound from their backyard. For more scenic loveliness, visit Scenic Sunday.

Another garden had planted different kinds of sunflowers. They were in their element, literally! It’s a Flower for Today, and visit them for fascinating photos of flowers around the world.

See you in a few!