We have a “tree” (standard) bougainvillea in a pot that we put on the sunny patio in the summer and bring inside when it gets cool. It’s very sensitive and usually loses all its leaves in protest when it is moved, in or out. This year it forgave us, as I babied it as much as possible. And lo! a flower! They are much pinker in July, but I’ll take it.

Please visit Shadow Shot Sunday 2, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Floral Friday, and Pink Saturday for more neat photography around the world. Take a look around here first by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos.

Yes, it is raining outside, but no foxgloves are now in the yard. Wait six months and there they’ll be! I really like the way the raindrops hang from the edge of the flower, and I hope you do, too.

Happy Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Watery Wednesday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Floral Friday, Wordless Wednesday and Pink Saturday. You can find lots more cool photos here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos any time you like.

A beam of sunshine, a couple of blooming houseplants, and a close up lens. Ah!

Visit Pink Saturday, Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Floral Friday, Color Carnival, Ruby Tuesday, Weekend Reflections, and Cactus Monday for great memes. Check them out! And the banner above with Sara’s Fave Photos will get you the complete blog here.

It’s finally raining, although softly, so I went outside for the pretty raindrop display on the coral bark Japanese maple tree. We have gotten almost no rain for the past two months and usually get 5 or 6 inches in both November and December. The garden (and I’m sure the ski resorts) really need the water. Not to mention it’s put a crimp in my scenic shots for Watery Wednesday!

Other fine photoblog memes are Macro Friday, Macro Monday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Ruby Tuesday and Weekend Reflections. See my neighbor’s house in that middle raindrop? I think that is so cool. And you can find lots more photos here by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos any time you like.

Peruvian lilies (alstroemeria) look so good, and I thought you might like to revisit some summer flowers from my garden. Aren’t the little red lines cool? They are very easy to grow but can take over. Right now I don’t care and just want color and sun!

Check out Shadow Shot Sunday 2, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Floral Friday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday, Color Carnival, Ruby Tuesday,  and Mellow Yellow Monday for endless photo fun. Browse around here by clicking on the banner Sara’s Fave Photos to see the whole collection.

In honor of tonight’s Solstice, I am featuring a photo taken on the other Solstice, the first day of summer in June. Please enjoy these pink peonies from my garden. In just a few hours, the sun dips to its lowest point in the northern hemisphere, and then begins its stately progress towards more light. We are ready.

You might like Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Macro Flowers Saturday, Pink Saturday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), and Floral Friday for some fun in the world of photoblogs. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete blog here, and thanks for visiting!

When a sunset gets going in the pink mode, it can really get going, but you have to be quick to get it at the peak. This view to the southwest in my backyard was perfect for yesterday’s display of the year, sunset-wise. The photos taken seconds right before and right after this one were great, but this one was oh-my-goodness—to me, at least. I sure love the digital camera thing that lets you take so many, because in the film days, I might have taken only one or two and not gotten this show. And I surely wouldn’t be sharing it with the entire world!

Check out Pink Saturday, Outdoor Wednesday, Scenic Sunday and Skywatch Friday for more fine finds in blogland. Before you do, please visit a new tag or category here, if you have a minute, and find the complete blog by clicking on Sara’s Fave Photos. Thanks!

Hope you don’t mind my continuing to delve into the archives at exactly six months opposite our weather right now. These irises in my garden were photographed on the same session as the sunny June garden photo a couple of posts down. In June there are so many lovely candidates for the blog that many pretty flowers get passed over. In December we are extra glad to see them. I hope you agree.

Take a look at Shadow Shot Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday. Macro Flowers Saturday, and a new one, Floral Friday. Have fun! If you’d like to see more here than the one photo that might be showing below, click on a tag like “My Garden” below the photo, or just click on Sara’s Fave Photos above.

Since it’s so gray and cold out now as we approach the winter Solstice, let’s take a look at its opposite, a scene from my garden in June. Isn’t the pink, fluffy meadow rue sweet? Looking at the photo data I see that it was taken at 6pm. It’s a long time dark at that time now, of course. But isn’t it nice to know that the sun will return, in all its garden glory?

Visit Shadow Shot Sunday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera), Pink Saturday, Today’s Flowers, and Weekend Flowers for more photo entertainment. Fun and free! Of course, feel free to browse around here first, perhaps checking out a new tag or category. Click on Sara’s Fave Photos for the complete blog.

This Japanese maple leaf is from my front yard, photo taken last week. The dark leaf color is already gone, with only red ones now, but I thought I’d show you the combination of the purple it was all summer and the autumn red just beginning.

Take a look at Ruby Tuesday, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, and SOOC Sunday (straight out of the camera). And do click on the Sara’s Fave Photo banner to see the complete blog here before you go.

It rebloomed! I’ve read all kinds of complicated instructions, but they sound like way too much work to me. All I did was keep it in a sunny (south) windowsill and keep watering it with the weak liquid fertilizer in the water that I always use for houseplants (so I don’t have to remember when to do it). Like all bulbs, amaryllis must have great drainage. After the leaves died back I still kept watering it when it was very dry. And lo and behold, a serious flower stalk emerged two weeks ago and now is in full bloom! The only other thing is that they must be inside a heavy pot because they are so top heavy and can easily fall over.

Visit Scenic Sunday, Shadow Shot Sunday, Ruby Tuesday, Mellow Yellow Monday, Today’s Flowers, Weekend Flowers, Macro Friday, Macro Monday, and Macro Flowers Saturday if you have a few minutes for some photo fabulousness. Be sure to click on Sara’s Fave Photos to view the complete blog if you see only one photo below.

We have two columnar apple trees, about six feet (two meters) tall and two feet wide at most. They bear full-size apples! With apples, you must have another tree for pollination, so you need two trees, or a neighbor with an apple tree. The trees never get much bigger, so you can have them in pots. We used to have them in big pots on our deck, but when we moved to this house we put them in the ground, and they are happy. This year my hand-pollination efforts, and the plastic sandwich bags against pests, paid off well, and we have a bumper crop. Time for apple sauce!

Take a look at Macro Friday, Macro Monday, Ruby Tuesday, Scenic Sunday, Outdoor Wednesday, and Shadow Shot Sunday if you have a minute or two. Browse around here with a new category or tag (“My Garden”?) and click on the banner above, Sara’s Fave Photos, to see all the posts here.