When I got up almost an hour ago, the sky was blue and the sun was brightly shining. It seems to have clouded over now, but hopefully the smoky air that we've had the last few days has disappeared. That means that the forecast rain for the northwest United States actually happened, which should help all those brave firefighters in their battle against the widespread flames.

This is a close shot of a pale pink Hollyhock flower that was growing at the Reader Rock Garden on 26 August 2015. I always love to see the centres of these large flowers.

Fortunately, at least the Hollyhocks and Gladioli were still in bloom and in good condition when I called in briefly at the Reader Rock Garden after an afternoon volunteer shift. Most of the flowers there have finished for the season and many of the ones that do still exist are past their prime. Still managed to get a few photos, though.

"Alcea (Ál-ce-a), commonly known as hollyhocks, is a genus of about 60 species of flowering plants in the mallow family Malvaceae. Most species are native to southwest and central Asia, although a few are native to southeast Europe or Egypt." From Wikipedia.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcea