flowers on a rainy day

{red zinnia ~ previously posted here}
It has been raining for the past two days making for some real lazy time inside.  It is gray, gloomy and quiet and I tend to take that as an excuse to do not-a-whole-lot. I've sorted through some picture files and taken an inventory of what's there, but all I've really accomplished so far is realizing how much I miss my North Carolina garden.  These are two of my all-time favorite flower photos.

{white dahlia ~ previously posted here}
I have never before or ever since managed to take such a clear, crisp picture of a red flower.  Red has a way of blowing out in digital photos -a phenomenon I have yet to really understand, so I don't know what I did right with this one. I just know I could stare at the color and depth in this photo for a good long while.
I bet that white dahlia is blooming right now in its little corner of the back yard (that is if the renters haven't killed them all...but I really shouldn't let my mind go there).  My sister in Washington state recently sent me some photos of the enormous "dinner plate" dahlias that grow there.  Maybe one day I'll actually be able to go out and see them (the flowers and the sister).
Here's one more while I'm at it-

{'bright lights' cosmos ~ previously posted here}
Now let me see what I can dig up that I haven't already posted...