Are you trekking the area in search of our amazing wildflowers? I hope so. Thus far, after hiking on Grandfather Mountain, Doe River Gorge, Roseborough Road, Watauga River Road, Hawksbill and other various places in this area, we’ve seen the following wildflowers and flowering trees/shrubs: Wood Anemone, Trailing Arbutus, Dutchman’s Beeches, Fringed Phacelia, Purple Fringed Phacelia, Bloodroot, Cut-Leaved Toothwort, Trout Lily, Carolina Spring Beauty, Wild Geranium, Ramps, Showy Orchis, Firepink, Sedum, Large-Flowered Trillium, Wake Robin, Painted Trillium, Nodding Mandarin, Large-Flowered Bellwort, Dwarf Crested Iris, Columbine, Birdsfoot Violet, Common Violet, Sweet White Violet, Ragwort, Dame’s Rocket, Phlox, Moosewood, Punctatum, Princess Tree, Wild Cherry, Service Berry (Sarvis), Mountain Magnolia, Bleeding Heart, Squirrel Corn, Fraser Sedge, Corydalis, Polygala, Wild Ginger, Heartleaf.

We’ve found Puttyroot orchids with bloom stalks 4-6 inches high. Better tag those locations so we can find them again when they bloom as that single identifying leaf will be gone. The pink shell azaleas (Rhododendron Vaseyi) will be blooming very soon on Grandfather Mountain, probably May 10-25. I’ve been watching one in my community. Can’t wait to see it bloom as it is a shrub of substance!

It’s time to visit the Parkway! Let’s get out there and see what we can find.

Ginger. Photo by Brenda Hoss


Purple Phacelia. Photo by Brenda Hoss


Dame's Rocket. Photo by Brenda Hoss