• April 14th, 2010

• Author:

  leahgrove

It’s that time of year again- time to take scenic drives along America’s favorite byway and enjoy the profusion of spring color!

Each year some 20 million visitors descend on the Blue Ridge Parkway, many of them coming to enjoy the array of wildflowers that line the road and trails from early spring through summer. It’s no wonder. The Parkway is home to more than 1,400 species of vascular plants, and with elevations ranging from 649 ft. to over 6,000, the diversity of plant life here is enormous.

Echota owners are lucky enough to enjoy the Parkway right in their own backyard, and many of you will drive along and hike the mountain slopes this spring and summer to enjoy the pink and white blooms of rhododendron, the blazing orange orange of flame azaleas, and the sweet, teacup-like blossoms of mountain laurel.

But there are plenty of other road and trailside blossoms to see as well. Some of the most common include Turk’s Cap Lily, Pink Lady’s Slipper, Evening Primrose, Bee Balm, and Fire Pink. Many of these blooms would not be easily visible to Parkway visitors were it not for the efforts of Greensboro sisters Julia and Helen Smith who spent thousands of leisure hours from the 1950s through the 1980s documenting the roadside blooms and lobbying park staff not to mow them down. Today, the Parkway honors the Smith sisters’ efforts in a display at the Peaks of Otter Visitor Center in Virginia.

You can pick up a Blue Ridge Parkway bloom calendar at any Parkway visitor center. Or visit online at www.nps.gov/blri.