The flower is
the stem’s cry of beauty
to the universe.
-Vassilis Comporozos

Thimbleberry flower, Washington State.

These pink and red poppies

were also found bursting in bloom in Washington state.

We can’t grow peonies at The Holler, but I buy them in season,

to display in bouquets.

Holler white rose.

Holler sweet peas.

We had loads of blooms this year due to the wonderful rain.

Rhododendron Washington State.
Cheers to you from summer’s smiling flowers~
Reblogged this on ravenhawks' magazine and commented:
Beautiful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awww, so kind of you & so appreciated too!
LikeLiked by 1 person
This is my favourite time of year Cindy, when all the flowers are in bloom.
Leslie
LikeLiked by 1 person
Isn’t it wonderful with all the amazing scents!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I do love the perfume of the air this time of year.
xoxo
LikeLiked by 1 person
It is psychologically beneficial ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
It’s a real mood booster for me.
LikeLiked by 1 person
That makes me happy ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
❤ xoxo
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Perfect pictures of gorgeous flowers/blossoms!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you & very happy you enjoyed 🌻
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on charles french words reading and writing and commented:
Here are more beautiful photographs from Cindy Knoke!
LikeLiked by 1 person
So appreciated Charles & hope you are enjoying your extended 4th of July weekend 🌻
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh Cindy! That thimbleberry was fresh and new to me!
And my husbands grandmother used to grow peonies and I half liked them! Pretty blooms but a weird look to their shrub!
Your blooms here were so pretty
LikeLiked by 1 person
The thimbleberry was new to me too, and I was about 99% certain of the identification! So happy you enjoyed and thank you for letting me know 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
😊🌸🌺🌼
LikeLiked by 1 person
Grazie mille 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
Wonderful. Even the little sweet peas – they don’t compare to the others in looks – but I could smell their sweet scent. Beautiful close-ups. Who would think that a thimbleberry would be so beautiful?
LikeLiked by 1 person
The thimbleberry was new to me and it is one of those amazingly beautiful tissue paper flowers. So pleased you enjoyed! I have vases of the sweet peas around the house and I so love their scent 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, yes, yes. So sweet.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Sweet knows sweet ❤ 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful. We had big Icelandic Poppies at an old place in the mountains, years ago. Love ’em.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love them too and grew them at our house before this one 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful! Peonies are my very favorite flower but we can’t grow them here on the coast either. Thank goodness for Trader Joes!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Shop TJ for the best priced flowers!! I know I do 🌻
LikeLiked by 1 person
So beautiful! It’s funny that you can grow roses but not peonies. I love peonies. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love peonies too, but our climate will not grow them, so it is a thrill once a year when they are available in the stores.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Many familiar friends – except the thimbleberry – but your photos make them look exotic! The bouquet of peonies is a winner!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wonderful to hear from you Peter. Hope all is well with the two of you ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
All is fine at present, thanks dear Cindy! Some medical sagas in progress; more on that later…
LikeLiked by 1 person
I know you know I am thinking and praying for you both ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Gorgeous!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, so appreciated, thank you! 🌻
LikeLiked by 1 person
They’re all so very beautiful, Cindy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You are very thoughtful. Thank you 🌻
LikeLiked by 1 person
You’re quite welcome.
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Stunning. The white rose may be my favorite. Thanks for bringing smiles.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you for bringing a smile to me 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful flowers. My peonies don’t last long and they get so covered with the ants that are necessary for them to open. I rarely have enough pretty flowers to bring inside. You have some gorgeous flowers there.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I would so love to grow peonies and I love rhododendron but they also won’t grow here. I have to travel to see them 🌻🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
If you ever in Portland, I can take you to the Rhodie garden. Peonies are so short lived here too. I have Rhodies on my hill but they bloom and are then gone.
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am going to come to Portland! What a wonderful invitation. Thank you ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
What a glorious array of colour. I love Peonies. They are such a gorgeous array of lushiouness (if there is such a word). Rich, beautiful perfume and a larger than ordinary roses makes them well worth growing. Rhododendrons are not far behind them as a wonderful flower to grow.
Looks like all the rain you had was a real boost to your garden 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Lushiousness. It is now a word that I love that you created ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Emerson was right: The earth certainly does laugh in flowers. 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Joy is lurking there, as you well know ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes, indeed! 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Wow! What a display of rich colours and exquisite beauty in your photo essays on flowers, Cindy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Peter, we live in a beautiful world ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
My grandmother planted peonies at our house when I was a child. They were always in perfect bloom for Memorial Day, when we would visit the graves of our relatives. Lovely pictures. Thanks.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Oh, that is so moving. What a wonderful thing for your grandmother to do ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
I particularly love the flowers taken against the black background. Very striking!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I am so lucky to meet people like you Liz ❤ Thank you 🌻
LikeLiked by 1 person
stunning beauty, just what we need more of!
love, Linda
LikeLiked by 1 person
We do indeed ❤ Love to you Linda 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
Incredibly beautiful!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I think they are here for us to notice and make us happy ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Yes indeed! I agree.
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
😎
LikeLiked by 1 person
THE COLOURS ARE FANTASTIC AS ARE THE PHOTOGRAPHS CINDY, CHINA
china.alexandria@livingthedream.blog
LikeLiked by 1 person
So happy you like them & thank you China ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Reblogged this on LIVING THE DREAM.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you China. You are very kind 🌻
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like them all
LikeLiked by 1 person
I like you for liking them. Thank you ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Cindy😊
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Hi Cuz, you know I like the hummers…, mini-miracles☘ have you been affected by the earthquake or are you far enough away from them? ☹ Hugs x 100🌺
LikeLiked by 1 person
The quakes have not us affected us, yet. Thank you for caring cuz. There have been quite a cluster though, hundreds and hundreds of small quakes. Another sizeable one is expected. It is just a question on when, in Cali, of course, regarding a really big San Andreas quake, but risk is calculated in geologic time, so 1000 years isn’t even a whisper. Still there is a lot of activity and it makes you check your earthquake supplies. Hugs back to you & hope you are well ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Exquisite flowers!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Merci beaucoup mon ami 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
De rien! 🙋
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤ 💮
LikeLiked by 1 person
Beautiful abundance, and I am in love with your sweet pea blooms.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! I so love sweet peas. Lately I have been gone when they need to be planted, but this year I wasn’t. And I am so thrilled to have them. Their scent and everything about them makes me happy. Wonderful to hear from you & I hope you are well ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
🙂 🙂 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Georgia O’Keeffe would be very pleased. Flowers give us so much beauty and ask for so little in return.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Such a perfect statement. Thank you Rebecca 🌻
LikeLiked by 1 person
What beauty!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ah, thank you my friend and I sincerely hope you feel better ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Bless yers. X♥
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
I adore white flowers, so the Thimbleberry flower and the Holler white Rose are the most beautiful to me, though all of them are gorgeous. Wonderful photos, Cindy, as ever 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Awww, I love my awesome blogger friends ❤ White flowers have an ethereal beauty don't they. I love them too 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
Exquisite! You captured some beautiful images; colors, shapes and textures. Flowers are d’bomb!
Thanks for your art!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you so much!!! Flowers are d’bomb 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
Beautiful blossoms Cindy. I too love peonies.
LikeLiked by 1 person
They are on my wedding invitation which is framed on our wall 🌻
LikeLiked by 2 people
Great shots of beautiful flowers.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you Timothy ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
So very beautiful, each one.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you. Maybe they are here for us to take time and notice.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Its beautiful Cindy. AMAZING indeed ! ☺
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahh, thank you & cheers 🌹
LikeLiked by 1 person
I love poppies. The Thimbleberry is a new to me flower, very beautiful…and quite poppy-like. Gorgeous photos 💚
LikeLiked by 1 person
It was new to me also. I wish I was there when the berries ripen. I would love to taste one. They are native plants and look a lot like raspberries but are not the same.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Oh, interesting!
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
How unutterably fantabulously gorgeous!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Smiling and love your word usage 🌹
LikeLiked by 2 people
Absolutely exquisite ! ‘ A thing of beauty’, just what the soul needs. So good, well done.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Ahhh, so kind & you make me happy I posted. Thank you ❤ 🌹
LikeLiked by 1 person
wunderschöne Blumen, liebe Cindy, beste Grüße sende ich dir, Klaus
LikeLiked by 1 person
Vielen dank mein lieber Freund ❤ 🌹
LikeLiked by 1 person
immer wieder gerne
LikeLiked by 1 person
Du bist ein guter Mensch ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
vielen Dank, du auch, alles Gute wünsche ich dir
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
immer wieder gerne
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gorgeous 🧡🧡🧡
LikeLiked by 1 person
Merci beaucoup 🌹
LikeLiked by 2 people
What a brilliant quote. I better understand the stem now. And thank you for the glory of these pictures today!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You make me smile ❤ 🌹
LikeLiked by 2 people
Then I have done something of value today 🙂
LikeLiked by 1 person
Love to you.
LikeLiked by 3 people
❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Lovely
LikeLiked by 1 person
Grazie mille 🌹
LikeLiked by 2 people
Thanks for the cheerful flower parade to start my day Cindy. 🙂 I love flowers, but didn’t know sweet peas bloomed in so many colors!
LikeLiked by 1 person
You can get them in monochromatic colors, but who would want to! Thanks much Brad and have a wonderful week 🌹
LikeLiked by 2 people
Agreed! 🌹
LikeLiked by 1 person
❤ ❤
LikeLiked by 2 people
Lovely!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Grazie!
LikeLiked by 2 people
Reblogged this on Musings on Life & Experience and commented:
Photos of gorgeous flowers taken by Cindy Knoke to share with us.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Many thanks Patricia & Happy Sunday my friend 🌹
LikeLiked by 1 person
Shades of Georgia O’Keefe! Impressive, Cindy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Thank you! You are second person who noticed a similarity with Georgia. How lovely 🌹
LikeLiked by 1 person
The sweet peas lined the roads on the way to Foresthill last weekend. We stopped near my dad’s house to shoot a few with my camera and managed to get a few monarchs in the process! I love the peonies, well I love them all, Cindy!
LikeLiked by 1 person
I can barely imagine sweet peas lining roads. How amazing this would be!
LikeLiked by 2 people
I am a harsh critic of flower photos because most that I see are simply not good. The outer two-thirds from the pistil are typically soft, blurry and fuzzy. The outer petals have no detail or clarity. A flower is a beautiful thing to see in all of its colorful glory, but most photographers are not able to capture the essence of that beauty. I don’t know why. Maybe it’s the focal distance, or possibly the wrong lens. Whatever the reason, a decent image is difficult to capture.
Having said all that, may I say that these photos were a pleasure to view.
Cindy, can you share any tips on how you captured these photos? Focal distance? Macro lens? Depth of field? Or maybe just plain skill?
Anyway, I wasn’t going to bother clicking on this post because flower pics usually disappoint me, but your talent and skill have been consistently showcased on this blog so I wasn’t surprised by the images posted.
LikeLiked by 1 person
Your comment are so kind and thoughtful, they left momentarily speechless. Thank you very much for taking time to share such encouraging thoughts with me, and they do encourage me. You make me happy I posted.
For outside flowers (and wild animals and birds), I always use my Sony HX400. The 400 has a variable zoom lens that can reach up 1200mm equivalent with no tripod necessary. The outdoor flowers you see here were taken at the maximum zoom possible to maintain focus. The indoor photos were taken with my Sony RX10 M4. I use flash and a black background to bring out the depth of color. I always crop photos and adjust contrast to bring the flowers glory forward.
I do agree with you, flowers are such perfect things, all we need to do as photographers is not let our photos get in the way of their beauty.
Thank you very much for your thoughtfulness and it is lovely to meet you.
LikeLiked by 2 people
Creation is just that way
LikeLiked by 1 person
Yes. It is. Smiling ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
Gorgeous!
LikeLiked by 1 person
Merci beaucoup mon ami ❤
LikeLiked by 1 person
De rien!
LikeLiked by 2 people
❤
LikeLiked by 2 people