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!

These red and white striped tulips were in a vase on a desk. I need to have some of these in my garden, absolutely. They look so antique and so totally modern, both.

Red and white striped tulips bouquet

Participating at My Romantic Home, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Monday Mellow Yellows, Macro Monday, Ruby Tuesday 2, and Fishtail Cottage Wednesday. Thank you for visiting and please click around for some interesting photos here. Do download the “7 Secrets to Better Flower Photos” at the right, all simple things you can do for better photos of any kind, without fancy equipment. It’s not the camera!

I love our two columnar apple trees. These are dwarfer than dwarf trees, bred to do well in containers or on patios. These two trees are 7 or 8 years old and have been in the ground a few years. One has red apples and one has yellow, and both are yummy. At this stage, the most important thing you can do for your fruit trees which need pollination is to make like a bee. Unless you have lots of bees and other helpful insects around, go out there with a little dry paintbrush, or a Q-tip, and go back and forth between the blossoms of the two trees. It’s incredible what a huge difference this makes in the amount of fruit that you get. Do it a few times so you get the early blooms and the late ones. Apple crisp, here I come.

Two columnar apple trees blooming in a bed of forget-me-nots

Linking up at My Romantic Home, Outdoor Wednesday, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Straight out of the Camera Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Scenic Weekends, Pink Saturday, Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, Floral Love and a new meme, Fishtail Cottage Tuesday. Thank you for stopping by here, and happy Spring to you. May your garden flower well for you.

The magnolias are gorgeous this year. This tree in our backyard is one of the many dotting the neighborhood right now. And the horses in the pasture adjoining our property just love the fallen petals. They even eat the blooms that they can reach off the tree! No harm seems to be done.

Pink Japanese magnolias against a sunny sky in springtime

Two horses graze magnolia blossoms on a sunny spring day

Visit 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, Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, Scenic Weekends, Camera Critters and Macro Monday. I appreciate your stopping by here and hope it’s flowering gangbusters where you live.

These sweet and strange fritillaria bulbs have been coming up in my garden like champs. The checkered patterns on the sides are so extraordinary that when I first saw a drawing of them, I thought it was a joke. Now that I can grow them in my garden, I love the tops like paper lanterns and their lovely, nodding stems. So shy, so strange.

Frittilaria (checkered tulips) nod their heads, in a rainy flowerbed

Participating in My Romantic Home, Outdoor Wednesday, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Thursday Challenge (Spring), Pink Saturday and Macro Monday. Glad you stopped by!

Daphne odora marginata is a fabulous, mostly evergreen shrub that grows very well in the Pacific Northwest. It likes acid soil and not too much sun. I’ve always had good luck with them and adore them for their intense fragrance and also for the cheerful start to the spring blooming season they provide. One little bouquet of these tiny flowers will scent up the house.

Daphne odora marginata blooms on a sunny windowsill in late March

Linking in My Romantic Home, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Scenic Weekends, Pink Saturday, Thursday Challenge (Spring), and Macro Monday. Have a great weekend, and hope you get some sun and fragrance in it. Thanks for dropping by here.

This clump of old-fashioned variegated (green and white leaves) hosta grows in a very protected area at my front door and is up early, almost fully leafed out. When I was a tiny tot in Philadelphia in the fifties, I remember these grew at our house. Plant nostalgia!

Variegated hosta leaves almost fully leafed out.

Linking in My Romantic Home, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Thursday Challenge (Spring), and Macro Monday. Thank you so much for stopping by here. Come back soon!

The sun was out! Our five-graft plum tree in the back is popping into bloom! This is its second year so we might get a plum or two. I love the idea of five different plums on one dwarf tree. Jars of jam, here I come!

Young plum tree opens white blossoms in the sunshine

Participating this week in My Romantic Home, Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Scenic Weekends, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Thursday Challenge (Spring), and Macro Monday. Thank you so much for stopping by here, and hope it’s Spring where you live. 

Finally, a current photo, hot off the memory card. I was lucky enough to be in Belltown yesterday, an area of Seattle I don’t usually get to walk around. And it was sunny!

Trees, other buildings and sky reflected in a glass building in Seattle

Linking up at Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Scenic Weekends, Outdoor Wednesday and Weekend Reflections. If there’s only one photo here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos above. Thanks for visiting!

The weather has been so cold, gray and rainy, but there have been “sunbreaks.” This was taken during one of them at this time last year. You are looking south on First Avenue in Burien, not so far from me, south of Seattle. Puffy clouds and pink trees make a landscape for me, any time.

Spring scene with cherry trees and clouds in Burien, Washington.

Participating at Skywatch Friday, A Piece of Heaven, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Floral Friday, Weekend Flowers, NF Blo-Ma Tuesday, Today’s Flowers, Scenic Weekends, Monday Mellow Yellows, Outdoor Wednesday, Pink Saturday and Ruby Tuesday 2. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos above if there’s only one photo here, and you might try a new tag in the tag cloud to the right—maybe scroll down a bit. Thanks for visiting!