View Full Version : N or S for May hike to see blooms
I'm really wanting to see spring wildflowers and Mntn Laurel and rhododendrum blooms. I have the month of May to go between Davenport Gap and Troutdale. (Could extend distances on either end...)
This site http://www.blueridgeparkway.org/bloom.htm makes it look like I'll be a little early to see peak blooms....
But, here's my question:
Should I begin my hiking heading north, or heading south to see the most color?
Thanks
bigcranky
02-09-2009, 17:27
Lots of spring wildflowers all over. You'll get spring beauties at the higher elevations, and trillium, etc., along the creek bottoms. You'll probably be a little early for rhododendron except at the very lowest spots.
Given your stated reason for going, I would start at the southern end and hike north. That way you'll hit the high spots early to get the last of the early blooms.
Also, if you are a birder, May is a great month for migrant songbirds. The trail goes over several spots with good birding opportunities.
OK, thanks....
I was just wondering if the lower elevation to the north would have an earlier bloom than the higher elevation to the south...
But, south to north, maybe I'll get a little of all of it!
East of Susquehanna River on the A.T., Pennsylvania's state flower blooms in early June and is often finished by the 3rd week. Our pinxterbloom azaleas bloom before mountain laurel.
There's an interesting story related to the choosing of our state flower which I'll need to save for another time other than to say it came down to the 2 plants just mentioned.
Great laurel blooms last around July 4.
If you are travelling near Philadelphia, visit BHWP (http://www.bhwp.org/about/founding_history.htm) at Washington's Crossing.
... south to north, maybe I'll get a little of all of it!
It's called walking with Spring, Mercy.:)
This is the quote out of the link I posted that brought about my question about which way to walk.
".... Bloom peaks along the Parkway in Virginia are usually earlier than in North Carolina due to lower elevation. ..."
('Cause I wanna walk with Spring!):D
Either way, I'm looking forward to it!
Can't say I ever considered that possibility, but it makes sense when travelling from lower to higher elevations.
Somehow, I must have missed your opening post, hence much of what I posted is not relevant to your request. Maybe someone who comes along later will find what I posted helpful.
Click when (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showpost.php?p=774328&postcount=2) for Roan Highlands bloom time and photos I posted yesterday.
There are a number other threads where the topic's mentioned, but you may be better off waiting for responses to your specific questions.
Click identify azaleas (http://www.tjhsst.edu/~dhyatt/ars/) for an online guide to our native east coast azaleas.
Anyone who is crazy about Kalmia should know about Broken Arrow Nursery and this book (http://www.brokenarrownursery.com/laurelbook.htm).
During May between Davenport Gap and Troutdale U might expect to see earlier blooming Catawba and Rosebay rhododendron at lower elevations or on warmer sites, Flame Azalea, late Dogwoods, maybe some Mnt. Laurel, Florida Anise, Fraser Magnolias, tulip trees, late Carolina Silverbells, maples, late Blk. locusts, wild apples, perhaps some late shadblows, hawthornes, flowering Blk cherry, and a host of hillsides and shady valleys filled with wildflowers. I will never forget those shady valleys filled with flowering trilliums, may apples, Spring Beauty, Trout lilies, columbines, and bloodroot as far as I could see into the woods. U might also see flowering Irises, orchids, bluets, wood Betony, foamflower, wood lily(Clintonia), Fire Pinks, Ragworts, Spiderworts, Larkspur, Anemone, Stonecrop, Galax, Fritillaria, baneberry, lily of the valley, Phacelia, Heuchera, Solomon's Seal, bleeding hearts, saxifraga, Verastrum, Jack in the Pulpits, Partridgeberry, Cardinal flower, and Rose Twisted Stalk. Just looked back in my 06 AT trail journal and that's a PARTIAL list of what I identified in flower between the third wk of Apr and mid May. Purposely, left out many other shrubs and wildflowers in bloom in May and the full botanical names of the plants so that U can have some fun discovering those things by yourself. And, that is just a partial list of the flowering plants in flower around that time. I haven't even got into all the dramatic foliage of plants that arrive on the scene in May! Roan and surrounding highlands R absolutely stunning with Rhodos, the ocassional flame azalea, Mnt laurel, and the rare Gray's lily around early to mid June.
Blissful
02-10-2009, 14:32
There were nice blooms along the Blue Ridge Parkway section of the AT (esp Rt 60 to I 81 interchange, and near the James River section) by mid May. Tunnels of white mt laurel.
Mercy, I hope you will upload some images from your walk with Spring.
Thanks for all the responses.
Dogwood, I'll have to look up the flowers you named, with hopes of knowing what I'm looking at. I'm afraid my classifications of flowers is sort of in the "Ooooo, look at that pretty flower!" category. But, I like to think I can still improve a little if I try!
BigCranky, my bird identification is somewhat better than my flowers, but still not too good. (I do know marine life!) We have a great amount of migratories pass through the Keys.
Blissful, thanks... I know you must have checked your journal!
Emerald, I'll try to get some pictures...
Emerald, I'll try to get some pictures...
You do that. I'd be happy to help identify your uploads.
bigcranky
02-13-2009, 16:32
BigCranky, my bird identification is somewhat better than my flowers, but still not too good. (I do know marine life!) We have a great amount of migratories pass through the Keys.
Aww, man, that is one place I want to go during migration. The Keys and Ft Jefferson. And High Island. And back to Corkscrew Swamp.
Have fun on the hike.