My bedroom overlooks our rose bed, which has about fifteen rosebushes and is in front of the house. Lots of people walk by with their dogs, or just stroll by for a walk. So I am reluctant to cut any roses for bouquets, thus reducing the view for myself and passersby. But a big rain was forecast (finally!), so I cut most of them. Once it rains hard on roses, they don’t look so good for anyone, so best to bring them in.

If only you could smell them, so incredibly sweet! Homegrown roses smell the best.

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A rare double rainbow above my garden last night.

Beautiful end to a beautiful and welcome rain

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I adore these long days when I get to be in the garden in the dreamy twilight. Today I cut some of the lavender. There is a lot!

After 9:00pm in my Seattle garden

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Some roses from my garden, with a few stems of lavender, on the first day of summer. The lavender is at the perfect stage for drying, before the individual florets have opened, but it works well in a bouquet, too. The peach one is Carding Mill, a David Austin rose.

Roses from the garden, under the cedar tree

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We visited Woodland Park Rose Garden in Seattle yesterday, in perfect weather. I need more pink roses in my life.

A planting of pink roses in Woodland Park Rose Garden

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Smelling like grape soda, these irises in a friend’s garden were a spring delight. The dark purple color of the lower petals is the finest velvet.

Colorful iris flowers in a spring garden

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Yesterday Seattle had just incredibly gorgeous weather: delightfully warm, sunny, and calm. Did I mention warm and sunny? It has been so very cold and gray this year, so I treasure these rare bursts of heaven. The irises are gearing up.

My garden and part of my neighbor’s. Bluebells and forget-me-nots, plus irises to come.

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A friend has a good hellebore collection in her charming garden. Even with the cold weather, they bloom so prettily in late winter and early spring.

Nodding hellebore blooms with purple veining and edges in a PNW sun break

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A friend’s garden has perfect purple crocuses in bloom. Finally, spring flowers are out there!

Brilliant orange centers on these purple and white crocus flowers

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Also called Japanese andromeda, pieris is a stellar shrub that thrives in the Pacific Northwest. And they are fragrant! Little bells of wonderfulness.

Pink pieris, backlit in the late winter sun

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The weather may still be wintry here in Seattle this year, but those daffodils never cease to thrill.

Sun and warmth are promised!

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This is what’s commonly called a Christmas cactus, but it’s really a Thanksgiving cactus, or schlumbergera truncata, not a regular cactus. This year, this one is acting more like a Valentine’s Day cactus! When growing them, treat them more like a regular houseplant and don’t let them get super dry, before you soak the soil.

Such showy, iridescent, magenta and white flowers, on this Thanksgiving cactus in bloom.

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