If you’ve visited Seattle, you’ve probably visited Pike Place Market, home of the original Starbucks and flying fish vendors and all that. But you might not know that the north section with the fresh flower vendors is filled only with flower vendors who grow all their own flowers. Nothing is shipped in from Chile, just all local blooms from the Seattle area fields and farms. You’ll see flower combos like you have never seen anywhere else, and the masses of tulips on display right now are just something else. I love tulip season!

Take a look at Mellow Yellow Monday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Scenic Sunday, Ruby Tuesday 2 and Pink Saturday for more photo fun. If you’d like to receive email notices for each blog post here, the RSS orange icon at top right makes it easy. Let me know via comments if you experience any difficulty with that. Thanks for visiting!

I was lucky enough to go the New York Botanical Garden‘s Orchid Show which continues until April 22. If you get a chance, you must go. Ravishing, wonderful, gorgeous! Not just a bunch of flowers, but so exquisitely displayed. And New York City has been having an amazing springtime, so my favorite pink trees in full bloom graced the grounds around the Enid Haupt Conservatory that houses the orchid show.

Here is one lovely orchid for your viewing pleasure. Visit Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Ruby Tuesday 2 and Pink Saturday for more fun photos with a theme. If you’ve arrived via a link, clicking on the curly letters of Sara’s Fave Photos above will get you the complete blog here.

I do like watching what the pros plant. This flowerbed of spring bulbs and pansies is such a vibrant color combination. I usually think of spring as pinks and pales, but this makes me rethink that. What do you plant for spring in your own garden? Deep colors, or Easter-y ones?

Why not pay a visit to Scenic Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Outdoor Wednesday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Mellow Yellow Monday or Ruby Tuesday 2? You can click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner above to see all the photos here. And since Google Friend Connect is ended for non-Blogger sites, I invite you to follow this blog with the widget at the right. Thanks!

Some plants are just photogenic, and primroses are a prime example. Maybe it’s the shiny leaves, maybe it’s the simplicity of the petal forms, but if the light is good and the flowers are pretty, you are going to get a good photo of these cuties. I just want to take home the entire nursery-full.

Google Friend Connect has been discontinued for all non-Blogger sites. I am trying a new Linky Tools followers widget to the right. I hope you will use it to follow this blog, and I apologize for your trouble of doing it twice for all those who have previously followed.

Be sure to visit Today’s Flowers, where I have the honor of being Guest Host on Sunday. Other lovely places around blogland are Mellow Yellow Monday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Outdoor Wednesday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2 and Ruby Tuesday 2. Thank you for visiting!

A couple of weeks ago at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show I really enjoyed the bouquets and arrangements in the lobby area, especially since the windows and daylight was so much better for photographs than the main garden displays inside. I don’t know why the tradition at this show is to have the display garden lighting so low that all the gardens look like it is nighttime. Perhaps it keeps the flowers from going past peak bloom too quickly, or saves electricity, or some other practical reason, but my desire for beautiful photographs without a tripod makes that so challenging. So here is a quirky and lovely bouquet in a branch in the lobby, just because.

You might want to check out Mellow Yellow Monday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival and Ruby Tuesday 2 for more floral fun, but always know that the search function here in the upper right corner holds lots of treasures.

If primroses are in the garden shops, it must be spring! I was lucky when at a new garden shop the other day, as it was getting pretty late in the afternoon but was briefly sunny, so the light was at that perfect slanty angle I love. Well, it DID hail and snow a bit today, but it didn’t stick, and then the sun was out soon after, no trace left behind. Let’s hear it for plant nurseries. They cheer us up so.

Why not visit Mellow Yellow Monday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival, Ruby Tuesday 2, Outdoor Wednesday, and Pink Saturday if you like photos with a theme? Lots of talent out there. While you are here, you might as well click on a new tag or category to find something new you like. And if you leave a comment, I’ll know you were here. Thanks for visiting!

I have to admit, I love receiving flowers. I can never have too many in the house. While those with fragrance are definitely my faves, who can resist the sensuous curves and color of the florist’s red roses? Hope you had a loving Valentine’s Day.

Check out Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival and Ruby Tuesday 2, for more fun photos.

Last week at the Northwest Flower & Garden Show I was lucky enough to see and photograph the exquisite bouquets in the daylit lobby area. I think that this year they were exceptionally beautiful. When you have such a stunning subject, it’s not too hard to make a really good photo (if I do say so myself!). As I always say, it’s not the camera. For some common-sense tips on how to take better photos that are not dependant on a fancy, expensive camera or complicated settings, you are welcome to download my “7 Secrets to Better Flower Photos” on the right.

Happy Valentine’s Day to you! This floral image expresses love and perfection to me. I hope you enjoy it. And even though not many people have commented yet on it, I love this image and I am calling it my Best Post of the Week.

Visit Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Color Carnival, Mellow Yellow Monday, Thursday Challenge (Love), Ruby Tuesday 2, Macro Friday and Pink Saturday for other interesting and beautiful photos. Have fun! If you’ve arrived via a link and there is only the one bouquet photo below, click on the Sara’s Fave Photos banner to see the entire blog. Thanks for visiting!

Just two short weeks ago we had an incredible ice storm, and today it was sunny and over 60 degrees out! I am just being perverse in showing this photo of the Japanese Coral Bark Maple branches coated in the ice—on such a lovely day as today. But I want to have one last (I hope!) look at real winter before we forge ahead into the burgeoning spring.

You’ll enjoy visiting Ruby Tuesday 2, Scenic Sunday, Thursday Challenge (Red), Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Watery Wednesday, A Piece of Heaven and Skywatch Friday. If there is only one photo here, click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the entire blog.  

I need to see some flowers blooming, so a trip to the archives from June 2007 is just the thing. Double Delight might be my favorite rose. It’s sturdy, available in nurseries everywhere, and supremely fragrant. Let us gaze on this image of summertime! It will get here, we know. And for you “down under” folks, hope you are enjoying your time in the sun.

Do check out Ruby Tuesday 2, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, Color Carnival and Pink Saturday to see excellent pictures from around the world. Try something new here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos, if you have a moment.

Seattle had a big ice storm, as you may have heard. I really wanted to get outside and take photos yesterday, but the weather was just too bad. Today it all began to melt, but I got out there before it was all gone and captured some great images. This pieris shrub is also called andromeda. I didn’t even realize it had already set buds until I was outside looking closely. It doesn’t seem to be the worse for wear.

Take a look at Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, Watery Wednesday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, and Ruby Tuesday 2, for more fascinating photos. Do browse around here first by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos.

We had our first snow this winter two days ago. I love that brief time when the snow has fallen but no wind has come along to disturb the frosting on trees and shrubs. I went outside to our patio, standing under the eaves so my camera wouldn’t get the silll-falling snow on it, when I heard that familiar Anna hummingbird whirrr. There she was, and what a scenic, snowy backdrop she had as she rested on her red feeder! I like this for the snow frosting everything like icing as much as the beautiful little bird, so I am calling this my Best Post of the Week.

Since several of you asked, they do stay in this lattitude nowadays because people like us provide feeders. It is not usually freezing here, and if it does freeze, we take the feeder in overnight so it’s liquid in the day.

Snow counts as water for Watery Wednesday, doesn’t it? Also, visit Outdoor Wednesday, Wordless Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Camera Critters and Ruby Tuesday 2. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete blog collection here. Or try a tag like “Scenic” in the right sidebar down a bit, or a search for “Snow” in the upper right field, perhaps, to see something new.