Yesterday I was at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show, which is open through Sunday, volunteering at the booth for the Volunteer Park Conservatory. It was great to see such an outpouring of concern and support for Seattle’s threatened icon. Before my shift, of course I wandered around taking photos. The Orchid Society’s display with the big wooden structure evoking the facade of our beloved Conservatory and helping to celebrate its Centennial was the greatest. Here is one of their perfect orchid specimens.

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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!

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The other night at the lighting ceremony at Seattle’s Volunteer Park Conservatory, there was magical harp music. In that mysterious and romantic environment, it only sounded more beautiful, if that is possible, than harp music usually does. Wish I had a video of it, but I’m a still camera kind of gal, at least so far.

I like the special mood of this photo and I’m calling this my Best Post of the Week.

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I was at the lighting ceremony at Seattle’s Volunteer Park Conservatory last night, and it was exciting to see that amazing structure outlined in lights. I had never been there at night and it was strange to see “my” beloved flowers and plants in the almost spooky shadows. Of course I had to take a photo anyway. Here’s a pretty poinsettia for you, and the lights!

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Oh, I love the Volunteer Park Conservatory. Is it any wonder I made a book about it? A recent visit to their unendingly beautiful and changing displays yielded this photo of orchids in a stray beam of sunlight. And just for fun, there’s a bonus photo below showing one of the unusual and creative plant combinations that delight me so. That one is SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), but I have tweaked the orchids slightly.

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Spathiphyllum is a very common houseplant and does well with a bit of neglect and in dark spaces. I’m pretty sure that the white part is a bract, or a differently colored special leaf, and the true flower is the pebbly, spiky part. It was one of the very first houseplants I ever got to bloom. This particular one is in the Volunteer Park Conservatory, which is my favorite flower haunt in Seattle.

Visit Mellow Yellow Monday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Macro Monday, Macro Friday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, and Weekend Flowers, if you get a chance. But first, see the complete and up-to-date blog here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos, here or on the banner above.

We’ve been having meetings at the Volunteer Park Conservatory (check out their brand-new website!) to help get the much-needed completion of the restoration funded. An extra benefit is going there after hours and catching the late afternoon light. There’s a wonderful video they’ve produced and you might notice that the plantings in it show it was taken just recently. Don’t you just love sunflowers?

Sorry for the late notice, but I will be at the Conservatory’s Plant Sale on Saturday, September 17, 10-3pm, signing copies of my new book, Flowers of Volunteer Park Conservatory: Blooming Month by Month. Directions on the Conservatory’s new website above. The plant sales there are always fabulous and the book is pretty neat, too! And the special launch pricing for my new book on this website will end Thursday, September 15, so if you were thinking about getting one for yourself and maybe one for a gift, now’s the time.

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Brugmansia, or Angels Trumpet, is such a magnificent flower. Taken at a recent Volunteer Park Conservatory event, you can tell this flower, about the size of my hand, is one of my top faves because I used its pink cousins on the cover of my book. They’re quite challenging to photograph, at least if you want them to look as graceful and elegant in your photo as they do when you’re looking at them. How a flower like this can look awkward I do not know, but it happens.

Mellow Yellow Monday, Today’s Flowers, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday and Macro Friday are neat places to visit. Try Color Carnival, too. Remember, if there is only one photo below, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the others. Thank you for visiting!

Oriental lilies are the latest in the summer and the most fragrant, I am told. Worth waiting for! And they will bloom in part shade, another plus. A lily grower in N. California told me that they like having low plants at their feet, like oxalis, perhaps, or some other low forest plant. All I know is I adore their smell.

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Bonus photo: Here I am at my book launch at the Volunteer Park Conservatory in the Bromeliad House yesterday. It was so much fun and such a great experience! Thank you to all who helped make it a success.

It’s party time! Thank you to all my blog readers and followers who have supported me over the last three years by your encouragement and creative, thoughtful comments. You gave me the confidence and courage to actually do this! My new book, Flowers of Volunteer Park Conservatory: Blooming Month By Month is just about here and we are ready to ship books very soon. My Best Post of the Week, for sure!

This book was born from a dozen or so visits to the Conservatory here in Seattle over the course of a year. It changed so much each time I visited. I was entranced and enthralled by the beauty of the displays and the opportunity for thrilling, perfect flower photos, and could not believe there was not even one book about this incredible gem of a place. Thus this book was born. Side note: The flowers on the book’s cover image are brugmansia, or Angel’s Trumpet.

The launch party and free Open House is coming up next week at the Conservatory on Thurs., August 4, 2011, 6-8pm, so if you are in the area, please do stop by and say hello, and get the very first look at the book in person.

By the way, there is a special pre-launch price available to my loyal readers. More info about the book is on the home page lovethatimage.com (you can always get there by clicking on the photo banner at the top of the page) and the order info is here.

This cover image qualifies for these memes: Macro Flowers Saturday, Macro Monday, Macro Friday, Color Carnival, Today’s Flowers, Pink Saturday, and Ruby Tuesday. Thanks again to all meme hosts and participants for your encouragement on this big, big project.