Spring Wildflowers and Native Plants

A recent trip to North Georgia and North Carolina was an opportunity to photograph native azaleas, rhododendrons and wildflowers.  Hamilton Rhododendron Gardens in Hiawassee is located at the Georgia Mountain Fairgrounds on the shore of Lake Chatuge.  There you will find over 400 varieties of rhododendron.  Fred Hamilton, Sears Roebuck executive and Atlanta resident, started the garden in his back yard, but after years of growth, he realized he could no longer take care of all the plants.  So the plants were transplanted to their current location.  For directions and more information:  http://www.georgiamountainfairgrounds.com/rhododendronfestival.php

Robbinsville, NC, is the location of the Blue Boar Inn on Lake Santeetlah and a great place for a weekend retreat.  Nearby is the Joyce Kilmer Memorial Forest, one of the largest contiguous tracts of old growth forest in the Eastern United States, the area is administered by the U. S. Forest Service.  The forest is abundant with wildflowers in the spring and this year they were spectacular!

  

Desoto State Park Wildflowers

At the end of April, I went on a road trip with Doug and Beth Powell to Desoto State Park in Northeast Alabama.  Desoto is located at the end of the mountain range that is Lookout Mountain and is known for the abundance of wildflowers and numerous waterfalls.
However, the 80 degree weather in the South in February and March had forced the wildflowers out of hiding early and we found very few blooms.
All was not lost, however, as the mountain laurel and rhododendron were blooming beautifully and the hiking trails were great exercise.  The waterfalls were still flowing and Desoto Falls was especially impressive.  Mountain laurel were blooming in abundance near the falls and around the lake created by the dam above the falls.
Adjacent to Desoto State Park is Little River Canyon, a national preserve and the deepest canyon east of the Mississippi.  Here the trail next to the river revealed a few wildflowers, but the best was the beautiful Jack in the Pulpit pictured here.