Sunday Stills: What’s Growing in Your #Garden?

April’s National Garden Month may be over shortly, but the flowers and plants linger on, depending on where you live.

You do not have to have your own garden to participate in this week’s Sunday Stills challenge. We didn’t have a garden for the first two years we lived here. But these grow wild in our backyard.

Arrowleaf Balsamroot Sunflower
Arrowleaf Balsamroot Sunflower

Wildflowers Around the Neighborhood

I also took plenty of walks along the neighborhood trails and discovered many wildflowers that bloom from March to November.

Captured on my latest walk near the Centennial Trail. Arrowleaf Balsamroot Sunflowers cover the forest floor.

arrowroot sunflowers invade the forest

Arrowleaf balsamroot, a plant of the Asteraceae (sunflower family) is fairly common in cold, dry areas of the West from Colorado, west to the Sierra Nevada, and into Canada. SOURCE

arrowleaf balsamroot sunflower

“Look at a tree, a flower, a plant. Let your awareness rest upon it. How still they are, how deeply rooted in Being. Allow nature to teach you stillness.” —Eckhart Tolle

Who needs a garden if you are surrounded by nature?

If You Like Gardens…My Garden in April

Spring comes slowly to us in North Eastern Washington. But when it does, carefully planted bulbs planted in the fall give us this beautiful show in April!

tulips in the garden
orange and yellow daffodil
Pink Tulips

Both my husband and I have worked consistently over the last five years to turn this blank, empty property into a home with 27 trees and garden beds full of flowers and vegetables.

We even have a mini orchard with 8 fruit trees!

purple pansies

Sometimes random flowers volunteer next to the garden, like these pansies. I suppose they don’t like to be fenced in. 😉

Sharing for Dawn’s Spring Festival, Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday, and Pepper’s One Step #6 challenges.

pink flower border

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

Here is a look at May’s Sunday Stills’ themes.

  • May 3 NO CHALLENGE (Blog maintenance)
  • May 10 Monthly Color Challenge Pink and Pastels
  • May 17 Family and Friends (May 18 is National Visit Your Relatives Day)
  • May 24 Babies!
  • May 31 Bicycles and Biking (May is National Bike Month)

If you are participating in the photo challenge, I look forward to seeing how you interpret this week’s theme! Creativity is encouraged, so please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme. Join me again on May 10th for the Monthly Color Challenge as we explore the shades of pink and pastel colors.

If you haven’t discovered my weekly Flower Hour feature, which is published on Tuesdays, please join me!

Please note that I plan to take a very short break from May 2-4 while I switch my blog from a classic theme to a block theme. Don’t be alarmed if you see my blog offline during that time.

See Deb’s World and Hugh’s Views and News for how they each switched seamlessly.

Spring in the Backyard

“Watching something grow is good for morale. It helps us believe in life.” — Myron Kaufmann

Have a great week!

cartoon graphic

© 2026 Copyright — Terri Webster Schrandt and secondwindleisure.com — All Rights Reserved


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107 responses to “Sunday Stills: What’s Growing in Your #Garden?”

  1. […] The #Flower Hour Sunday Stills: Garden […]

    Liked by 1 person

  2. […] Sunday Stills and Flower Hour go together this week. Terri updated her website on May 3, and it looks fabulous – very clean, modern, easy to read. You will love it. If your blog hasn’t been working well, and you’ve been thinking of updating take a look at Terri’s, Deb’s World and Hugh’s Views and News for how they each switched seamlessly. […]

    Liked by 1 person

  3. Gorgeous post, Terri. the tulip pictures are so bright. and sunflowers – we are going to get some. You’ve sold us on getting them. Your trees look so pretty. We have a few oranges on our tree now. I don’t know if they will stay on. A lot have fallen off.

    I love your new theme. You did a great job. It looks so professional. Fabulous, really! This week I’m sharing some garden photos from our Sac trip. I’ll share some for Flower Hour, too. I have tons. Flowers for you, cars for Johnbo. Talk soon.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Marsha! Sunflowers are fun because they attract birds. Speaking of, there may be Phoebe drama again. More about that later. We will chat soon. Xoxo

      Liked by 1 person

  4. […] Posted for Terri’s Sunday Stills: Growing in Your Garden […]

    Liked by 1 person

  5. […] Many thanks to Terri for her Sunday Stills challenge What’s Growing in your Garden? […]

    Liked by 1 person

  6. […] captured a gorgeous sunset.Terri joined in with colorful spring flowers.Donna brought wildflowers, a deer, butterfly, and a woodpecker.Linda’s images showed off bees […]

    Liked by 1 person

  7. […] Terri invites us to share our gardens this week. At the moment there is nothing growing in my garden as the temps are still winterlike. However, I have seen flowers and trees and bushes blooming with their bursts of wonderful color. […]

    Liked by 1 person

  8. Your garden is looking great after all that hard work over the last five years, Terri. Our spring bulbs are almost gone now, as the summer plants start waking up. Our first daffodils bloomed in February.

    I’m not a gardener, but I love sitting in the garden, hearing all the wildlife around me, and looking at the plants. I’ve not had a chance to sit out there yet, but warmer days are certainly on the horizon.

    Good to see you have the fruit trees protected from any wildlife that may eat the new shoots and flowers.

    Good luck with the upcoming blog theme switch.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Hugh! We feel lucky to have the blanket slate in which to make our own. Hans loves doing all the work. I do my share, but having everything on auto-water is a relief! We still have to wait a few more weeks until the frost ends before we can decide what veggies to plant.
      Thanks for your well-wishes on the theme change. I’m excited!

      Liked by 1 person

  9. You’re doing a great job with your property! I’m sure it’s a lot of work, but rewarding.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Debra! It helps to be retired and have the time to try things. Hubby loves it!

      Like

  10. […] Terri’s Sunday Stills Challenge, I walked into my garden and thought, “Autumn is […]

    Liked by 1 person

  11. What beauty you have brought to your home! Soon you will be canning fruit or baking pies.
    I enjoyed all of your spring bulbs. I miss tulips and daffodils. Our summer home still has some from when my Mom planted the bulbs. But we don’t often get to see them bloom.
    Love those sunflowers! How fun to have them everywhere.
    Your sign-off caricature is darling. Too cute!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Nancy! A friend from church begged me to take some extra day lily bulbs. She said they took over the garden. I think i would miss the early spring flowers here. I know the desert is blooming now, so enjoy those saguaro flowers!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. That I am! 🌵💚

        Liked by 1 person

  12. Nothing is growing 🙂 All wait for warmer weather!

    Liked by 1 person

  13. Very beautiful picture

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Terri, your beautiful garden is so full of rich color. We live in an apartment, and have a small balcony. Hubby grows spider plants, and sold 20 of them yesterday. 😊 Good luck with switching to a block theme. I’ll think you’ll love it. 💕

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Eugi! I love spider plants, how fun to cultivate them! Is your blog on a Block theme?

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Your welcome, Terri. I’ve been using a block theme from the get go. I use Nook as my theme because it has a sidebar and has the same look as a classic theme. When Hugh switched to a block theme, he uses Nook, as well. I’ve tried just about every block theme, and Nook is easier to set up then some of the others. With that said, some of the magazine style themes are great for photography. A good example is Tenku. You know you can preview themes with your content to give a better idea of how it looks. 🥰

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Good for you! We can set up our sites well, but others we read can still be troublesome. My theme still works, but I prefer to be current. I like the look of carnation theme, so I’m trying it. Thanks for your support, Eugi!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. My pleasure, and good for you for trying the Carnation theme, Terri, and good luck.

        Liked by 1 person

  15. Hi Terri, I love all your beautiful photos of colourful plants in the garden! Spring blossoms always make me smile. It’s autumn here so we have lots of colour in the garden which I’ve shared in my post plus an idea that came to me when we visited the Butchart Gardens in Victoria, Canada last year!

    I’m joining up today for the first time in ages!! My post is here https://debs-world.com/2026/04/27/it-all-started-with-a-visit-to-a-garden-sundaystills/

    Deb from Debs-world.com

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Debbie! Here in Washington we live for those first spring blooms that color the dull gray-brown landscape! Happily we have wonderful color through October. Great to see your link!

      Liked by 1 person

  16. Your garden is progressing so well, Terri

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Toni! We are constantly adding and adjusting when needed. Very relaxing ans rewarding!

      Like

  17. Gosh, Terri, I want to explore the flowery forest floor! Looks so magical. Lovely images!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Book a flight and Come visit, Hazel! Thank you, hon! 🌲🌻

      Liked by 1 person

      1. If not now, hopefully soon when the universe is listening to me now🤩 ‘hon’ for Hazel?🤔 It sounds so sweet

        Liked by 1 person

      2. I was using hon, honey for short. I’m probably old enough to be your grandma ❤️

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Terri, you’re so sweet. I’m smiling. Thanks for this initiative. I love it. I thought it’s a typo. I don’t know what I call an epithet of endearment to you.🤭🤩 would I reply, hon?😁 Gosh!!!!

        Like

      4. I haven’t called mom here yet.😇😁

        Liked by 1 person

  18. I like your wildflowers Terri – all that beauty and no work which is in contrast to all the efforts you have put in for the last five years as to gardens and trees. Gardens are a lot of work, but once established and in sharing your caretaking responsibilities for maintaining them, it makes gardening much more enjoyable. I will be joining your Flower Hour on Wednesday with my Wordless Wednesday post and will also link back to this Challenge as well. I have a myriad of posts for May, not always related to the Sunday Challenge, but a few for Flower Hour. Our weather has been not so great – today was nice, but my car is in the shop and at the Park, I toted my camera – no photo ops!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks so much, Linda! Bring on those flowers! Ironically, I created hanging floral baskets this weekend…fake flowers! 😜 No watering! Busy weekend, I’ll read your post tomorrow!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. You’re welcome Terri and believe me, once you go that route with the hanging baskets, you’ll never go back to real flowers again. Back in 2010 or 2011, when I still had real flowers in hanging baskets, we had a lot of Summer rain, torrential rain and, if it would be windy and/or stormy, I’d run out and take the four hanging baskets off the shepherd hook, so the extra weight from the saturated dirt and the wind didn’t break the basket “straps”. The poor flowers spent more time under the patio roof than on their hooks it seemed. So that was another reason for using silk flowers. I secure the handle of the basket to the shepherd’s hook with black pipe cleaners or zip ties. It doesn’t go anywhere until Fall!

        Liked by 1 person

      2. It’s a great idea, Linda! I find it have to put a little weight in the baskets to keep it from moving too much. I used floral foam in the baskets. I have some gravel i can add. Lol, the things we do!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Here’s what I did Terri, not only in the hanging baskets, but also in the pots. I saved the net bags from oranges and grapefruits, but I’m sure you could find net bags on the internet. Then I bought heavy decorative stones, like you might put in a large vase. Mine were black, flat stones that I got at Michaels. I put the stones into the bag, shut them with a pipe cleaner and tied the stems of the flowers to the pipe cleaners. They never blew away or moved … when they were faded, I threw everything away.

        Liked by 1 person

      4. You’re a genius, Linda! I’ll give that a try!

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Thank you Terri! It worked well and no hanging basket “fixin’s” going airborne!

        Liked by 1 person

  19. These are all very beautiful, but yellow flowers are my favorite.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Dawn! I agree with you on yellow flowers! 💛

      Liked by 1 person

  20. Beautiful gallery, Terri. Your garden looks very well maintained and gorgeous.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Egidio! We need two more garden beds. I’m trying to talk my hubby out of planting more fruit trees, though! 🤣

      Like

  21. We have daffodils, but not much else yet. Lots and lots of little green nubs of the perennial plants. And of course some assertive weeds.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Pam! Now my goals is to add some yellow tulips.

      Like

    1. Thank you, Maria! I adore these colors in spring!

      Like

  22. […] For Terri´s Sunday Stills Challenge. […]

    Liked by 1 person

  23. Those ‘wild sunflowers’ are wonderful, Terri. I don’t remember seeing them before. Just fabulous! xx

    Liked by 1 person

  24. One thing about Nature, It has an infinite palette to paint with!

    There are 2 types of gardens, human made or natural.

    I bestow upon you the gold medal Terri.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Wayne! I’ll proudly accept that gold medal!

      Liked by 1 person

  25. […] Terrie’s Sunday Stills invited me to share what is growing in my garden. […]

    Liked by 1 person

  26. Your garden is beautiful.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Sadje! We’re happy with it and keep adding to it. Great hobby, and useful too!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. A very healthy way of spending time.

        Liked by 1 person

  27. I LOVE the tulips and daffodils and fruit trees too! I tried tulips in the garden in the past, but now I treat them as annuals, and enjoy them for a month or so in pots. Thanks for the links to the bloggers who took the plunge on the theme change. I’m still exploring a change myself. Here’s what’s happening in my garden today! What’s in Today’s Garden? – Cats and Trails and Garden Tales

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Susanne! The tulips arw also everywhere now. I think they like the dryer, sandy soil here. And the cold!
      I’m starting the theme change this Saturday. I copied all my pages and links to a word document in case something disappeared. Wish me luck!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Yes indeed! Good luck! 🙂

        Liked by 1 person

  28. A wonderful array of flowers, Terri. Well shot! 🌻

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Jane! Not bad for my f
      Galaxy smartphone. My tulips are suddenly blooming all at once!

      Liked by 1 person

  29. My garden is totally white. I LOL when you said spring is slow where you live. The Engineer had to get the tractor out to blow out the driveway yesterday! Still in the freezing range night and day! Maybe Tuesday spring will arrive????

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Oh that’s funny, Bernie! You’re much farther north and Canada too all the snow this winter! I wish you warm, spring temps sooner than later!

      Like

      1. We are all starting to find it less funny the closer to May it gets. We hace had 4 major blizzards in the last 4 weeks.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. Yikes, crazy spring disguised as winter!

        Like

  30. This is a beautifully grounded and nature-rich reflection—it feels like a gentle walk through the changing rhythms of the outdoors.

    What stands out is the way you bring attention to wild, often overlooked beauty. From Arrowleaf Balsamroot carpeting the forest floor, to the delicate presence of Grass Widow and vibrant Gaillardia aristata, each detail adds texture and color to the landscape you’re sharing.

    Liked by 1 person

  31. Still no spring showers in Fargo… >frown< It was in the 80s a couple of times this week, but it’s 34 this morning.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Our “winter” flowers do well in these cold temps, John! We still get frost through mid-May. Tulips are now blooming, thank goodness.

      Liked by 1 person

  32. Those fields of yellow flowers are a cheerful sign that spring has arrived. Your garden is coming along nicely too. So colorful and I love those pear blossoms. Here’s mine this week: https://grahamsisland.com/2026/04/26/liliuokalani-gardens/

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Graham! I love to see the evergreen forest floor covered with the arrowleafs. So amazing and you know spring has arrived here!

      Liked by 1 person

  33. […] This week’s Sunday Stills challenge theme is ‘National Garden Month.’ See more responses here. […]

    Liked by 1 person

  34. Terri, the flowers and trees in this post are stunning. I love how you’re adding to the beauty of your land. 💟

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Colleen! When the 10 acre property was developed by the land owner, all the pine trees were cut down. There are still countless acres of trees here. We’ve enjoyed planting everything. Doing so has brought the birds back too!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. I love that you planted the trees. That is so important to earth right now. The birds are the best, aren’t they? I love seeing them too. We waiting for the peonies to bloom. Another week or so! 🌸

        Liked by 1 person

  35. This is a lovely post, Terri. The wild flowers are beautiful.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you Robbie! I’m torn which i like better, the tulips or the wild sunflowers! They grow here at the same time, I’m so lucky! 🌷🌻

      Like

  36. Your hard work in the garden is paying off. Isn’t it amazing what dedication can do to a piece of land? This is what’s growing in my garden right now https://greendreamssweden.com/2026/04/25/weekend-coffee-share-8/.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Maria! We enjoy working on our property. Hans loves it so much! Happy gardening!

      Like

  37. […] the time to host the weekend coffee share! This week I am also participating in Terri’s Sunday Stills since the theme is What’s growing in your garden? I couldn’t resist participating. […]

    Liked by 1 person

  38. Those don’t even look like weeds!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. I know, right? We treat them as the beautiful sunflowers they are. Apparently they’re edible and medicinal. I’ll just keep admiring them.

      Liked by 1 person

  39. […] Terri’s SundayStills 26 April, 2026 – “What’s Growing in Your […]

    Liked by 1 person

  40. Terri, your garden is vibrant and full of floral color. That is a lot of cultivated space. Well done! Thank you for the wonderful gallery of spring’s bespoke flowers.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Suzette! They’re certainly putting on a great show now!

      Liked by 1 person

  41. What a gorgeous selection of florals, Terri. I particularly love the pear tree blossom…absolutely stunning! I’m going to look out for that next time I visit the garden centre. Have a lovely week ahead!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Cathy! We were excited to see the pear tree blooms! Pears grow well in Washington.

      Liked by 1 person

  42. Your work has paid off! 🙏🏻❤️

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thanks, John! Hans has everything on auto-water, too. That was a LOT of work but worth it!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. Good deal! I assume that water system needs to be flushed dry for winter.

        Liked by 1 person

      2. You assume correctly! 😀 of course he has a pump system to do it!

        Liked by 1 person

      3. Yay! 😂 I worked on a private estate in Michigan for years that drew water for the sprinkler system from a small river, each fall we attached an air compressor to the different areas of the system. The water came out fast and loud!

        Liked by 1 person

      4. Air compressor, that’s the word I was looking for! 🤣

        Liked by 1 person

      5. Gotta blow those lines dry!

        Liked by 1 person

  43. Terri, your beautiful flowers made me smile this morning!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Beth! They sure make me happy!

      Liked by 1 person

  44. I admire your dedication in creating a garden and fruit trees on your property.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. Thank you, Anne! Once my hubby set up all the automated watering, that was a huge help. Water is still cheap here. 😀 I already ordered bulbs for planting in fall. Now I need two more garden beds built. 🤣

      Liked by 1 person

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About Me

I’m a former university adjunct Professor and retired recreation & parks practitioner living in North-Eastern Washington State near the Idaho border. Second Wind Leisure Perspectives is my blog about living a leisure lifestyle, including photography, friends, fitness, and fun.

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