I just learned the name of these small, pretty flowers recently on the Floral Friday blog. I happen to be reading Sacajawea, about the Lewis and Clark expedition to explore the Pacific Northwest, so when I learned that these flowers were named for Meriweather Lewis I was charmed. These were at Seattle’s huge NW Flower & Garden Show last week.

Tiny lewisia flowers are good in a rock garden

Linking to Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Blooming Friday, Pink Saturday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Macro Monday, I Heart Macro Saturday, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, and Saturday Show Off. Thanks for your visit here and please come back soon.

These pretty (and edible!) nasturtium flowers were growing on my patio in July, now just a sweet memory.

Close look at peach nasturtium flowers in my garden in July

Linking to Outdoor Wednesday, Today’s Flowers, Floral Friday, Macro Monday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Pink Saturday, Ruby Tuesday 2, Mandarin Orange Monday, Orange You Glad It’s Friday, My Romantic Home, Blooming Friday and Saturday Show Off. Please click on Sara’s Fave Photos Blog if there is only one photo here. Thank you so much for visiting, and come back soon!

What with all the wind we had, the leaf season is leaving. This beloved poem comes to mind.

Spring & Fall: to a young child

Margaret, are you grieving
Over Goldengrove unleaving?
Leaves, like the things of man, you
With your fresh thoughts care for, can you?
Ah! as the heart grows older
It will come to such sights colder
By and by, nor spare a sigh
Though worlds of wanwood leafmeal lie;
And yet you will weep and know why.
Now no matter, child, the name:
Sorrow’s springs are the same.
Nor mouth had, no nor mind, expressed
What heart heard of, ghost guessed:
It is the blight man was born for,
It is Margaret you mourn for.

© Gerard Manley Hopkins. All rights reserved.

Here is another leaf scene beauty.

Jewel colors of autumn leaves not yet fallen

Posting in Ruby Tuesday 2, Monday Mellow Yellows, Outdoor Wednesday, Macro Monday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Scenic Weekends, Pink Saturday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Orange You Glad It’s Friday, and Saturday Show Off. Thank you for visiting and please, come back soon!

 

We had a windstorm yesterday, so these maple leaves from a few days ago have probably blown off the old tree in my neighbor’s yard. A photo captures their incandescent color for us anyway.

Autumn-hued maple leaves in candy colors

Linking up with Ruby Tuesday 2, Monday Mellow Yellows, Outdoor Wednesday, Macro Monday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Scenic Weekends, Pink Saturday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Orange You Glad It’s Friday, and Saturday Show Off. If only one photo shows here, please click on the Sara’s Fave Photos Blog letters above for a few others you might like.

Went outside and even though the weather was cloudy, the colors of the leaves are fabulous. I love the autumn colors so much. I also love this post and am calling it my Best Post of the Week.

Korean dogwood leaves begin to turn color in mid-October

Connecting to Ruby Tuesday 2, Monday Mellow Yellows, Outdoor Wednesday, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Macro Monday, I Heart Macro Saturday, Scenic Weekends, Pink Saturday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Orange You Glad It’s Friday, and Saturday Show Off. Thank you so much for your visit here and please come back soon.

I had forgotten that Swiss chard really is a biennial plant in the garden, and was disappointed last summer when the small plants I had grown from seed just didn’t do that much. But after a fairly mild winter with no really hard freezes, the plants are looking just fine. Dinner! I like to pick a good bunch, cut the stems from the leaf parts, roll up the leaves and slice in half inch ribbons. Then start steaming the cut-up stems first, add the leaves after a few minutes, and when picked fresh from your garden, they don’t take long to cook. You can cook up a nice white sauce with cheese melted into it to go over the steamed chard, or go the Italian way with chard added to garlic fried in olive oil, all mixed together on steamed red potatoes. So good.

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Ruby Tuesday 2 and Macro Monday, why don’t you? And if you enjoy the photos in this blog, please click the new follow widget to the right. Thanks for visiting and come back soon.!

I love google images. It’s the greatest plant identification tool I ever saw. I have reference books, and I love them, but if you do not know the name of a plant, good luck with finding it. With google images, you can just type in a general category and description and start browsing. This orchid may be called Pamina, or it may be Golden Treasure, OR it may be called Baldan’s Kaleidoscope. You choose. Sure is pretty though, isn’t it?

This was taken at a garden club flower show in Kent, Washington just yesterday.

Visit a new meme, Macro Friday, for great close ups. And Macro Flowers Saturday and Today’s Flowers always have lovely posts. SOOC has other straight out of the camers photos. Do click on Sara’s Fave Photos if there is only the one photo showing here.