View Full Version : wild Rhododendron bloom
Any info out there when the right time of year to see the wild Rhododendron blooms along AT on the way to Quarry run shelter outside Caledonia pa. state park ?
Rhododendron maximum L. blooms in earliest July in Pennsylvania.
It's West Virginia's State Flower and a species of concern in 4 A.T. States.
More information and images are available from USDA Plants (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=rhma4).
If I remember right, Catawba Rhoddies on Roan Mountain and nearby Jane Bald/Mnt?far south of Caledonia SP on the NC/TN border start by the third wk of June and continue for several wks.
Spectacular! Mix the magenta and pinks of the Rhoddies in with the Orangey Flame Azaleas and rare Gray's lilies which remind me of Stargazer lilies. Later on the orange upside down hanging Turk's Cap lillies and pink, lavender, and whiteish Bee Balm pick up. Awesome! Appalacians have a knock out widflower display hard to beat!
http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showpost.php?p=535543&postcount=6 (http://www.whiteblaze.net/forum/showpost.php?p=535543&postcount=6)
That refreshes me. Thanks Emerald.
If you'll stick around, I just might post images of Pennsylvania's State Flower and pinxterblooms, but not today.
Kalmia latifolia L. (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=kala) blooms the first two weeks of June in Pennsylvania. Browse Google Images (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1&q=%22Kalmia+latifolia%22&sa=N&start=0&ndsp=18) to see wild type plants and some of the more recently introduced cultivars.
The best book on mountain laurel is Kalmia (http://books.google.com/books?id=zzpPJ2gFFqIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Kalmia+Richard+jaynes&source=bl&ots=TmrVVC5aeJ&sig=01vkKJyYpajuIbBZbbNcbZebX2o&hl=en&ei=6KeIS4KrD4_j8Qap-PSjDw&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CAYQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=&f=false) by Richard A. Jaynes, owner of Broken Arrow Nursery in Connecticut. Saturday, June 12, Jaynes will provide a free lecture and tour of the world's largest collection of Kalmia in all its splendor.
There is also the possibility, while on the AT, and the IAT, of coming across Kalmia angustifolia(Sheep Laurel), which I thought I came across a few times in NC, and Kalmia polifolia(Bog Rosemary or Bog Laurel). The sheep laurel is further divided into northern and southern varieties. I've also seen Kalmia laitifolia, not only in nurseries as named patented cultivated varieties with bright pink blooms, but also growing in the wild. It's neat seeing understory forests of mature laurels, some well over 10 ft tall, in mixed white and bright pink bloom.
I haven't seen Kalmia polifolia Wangenh. (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=kapo) on the A.T., but I have seen it near Orono, Maine.
Browse Google Images (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&rlz=1T4RNWN_enUS213US214&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=%22Kalmia+polifolia%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&start=0), bog laurel.
Kalmia angustifolia L. (http://plants.usda.gov/java/profile?symbol=kaan) occurs on SGL 110 in Berks County, Pennsylvania doubtless elsewhere.
Browse Google images (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch%3A1&sa=1&q=%22Kalmia+angustifolia%22&btnG=Search&aq=f&aqi=&aql=&oq=&start=0), sheep laurel.