This is the Blue Ridge Parkway Bloom Report for late May 2010. This is of course the best overall month for wildflowers along the Parkway. Some are beautiful from your car windshield while others take some effort along trails or perhaps just a short walk from an overlook.
Catawba Rhododendron is just beginning to show in some areas with the majority of those blooms coming on over the next several weeks. Flame Azalea is reported in many mid-elevations and Mountain Laurel is beautiful throughout most of the Parkway.
On the north end of the Parkway near Humpback Rocks and north to the Rockfish Gap entrance the Mountain Laurel is absolutely beautiful right now as you look out through the canopy and across the Shenandoah Valley.
From Groundhog Mountain south to the state line in Virginia look for Flame Azalea, Mountain Laurel, Buttercup, Fleabane Daisy, Elders, Bowman’s Root and some Wild Geranium.
In North Carolina around the Moses Cone area Catawba Rhododendron, Virginia Spiderwort, Hawkweed and a variety of colors of Phlox are all very nicely in bloom.Check out the Price Park campground and look for Mayapple, Jack in the Pulpit, Solomon’s Seal, and Squaw Root, scattered throughout loop B.
Regular updates for color reports will be posted to our web site home page. You can also use the National Park Service information line at 828-298-0398 to keep informed of what’s being reported on the Parkway.
Have a safe Parkway visit! Enjoy the view, but watch the road.