Welcome to JOYFUL REFLECTIONS. Also welcome to APRIL!!!! Spring is AWESOME. Enjoy some beautiful TULIPS from Biltmore!!

Monday, August 17, 2020

Blue Ridge Parkway Wildflowers/Shrubs and Ferns

Dear Blog Friends/Family,  As most of you know,  from June 16-18,  2020,  George and I took a little trip to the Pisgah Inn,  on the Blue Ridge Parkway, near Asheville,  North Carolina.   This past week,  I went through all of my pictures from that trip,  and picked out pictures of some of the beauty all around us that week to share with you... 

Hope you enjoy this set of pictures.  I have them divided into 4 groups or 3 pictures each:  Mountain Laurel,  Ferns and Greenery,  Rhododendrons,  and Flame Azaleas.  

I cannot seem to find a way to put a 'caption' with my pictures with this new Blogger program,  so the caption (if I could write one) would tell you that the picture above is a beautiful MOUNTAIN LAUREL.  Does anyone know how to put in captions with your pictures?


Here's another picture of the Mountain Laurel.. Can you count how many blooms are on that bush????  Me neither!!!! ha ha


Here's a close-up of one of the tiny Mountain Laurel blooms.  Mountain Laurel starts out a medium pink color,  and as it opens,  it turns more whitish with pink... They are so beautiful!


Wouldn't you like to be here and take this wonderful hike with us?  As I walked this path,  I felt like I was in Heaven on Earth.. The ferns (AND the smell,  AND all of the greens around us) were awesome!!!!


Have you ever taken time to check out ferns up close and personal?  So intricate and amazing!!!!


When taking time --as we hike-- to look at the interesting beauty all around me,  I found this little patch of some kind of tiny little ground-cover around the mossy area..  Does anyone know what this is????  It was so beautiful!


As we headed further up the mountain,  we encountered these gorgeous Rhododendron blooming at the higher elevations of the Blue Ridge Mountains.  It is truly amazing to see all of the different wildflowers in bloom at different elevations and at different times of the year.  


We have Rhododendrons blooming in our yard in May ---but never this many blooms!!!!  So gorgeous!


I got closer to these Rhododendron blooms for a better picture.   When the sun is shining,  the colors of the Rhododendron blooms seem more pink and less lilac/purple (as in the two pictures above)...We didn't see a lot of sunshine when we were there this year --but the flowers were still gorgeous.


One of my all-time favorite Wild Flowers is a FLAME AZALEA....The orange color is so perfect to blend in with the green around it...



Here are the Flame Azaleas a little closer!!!  Aren't they just awesome?



 Here's one more picture of the vivid colors in the Flame Azaleas.  

I hope you enjoyed all of the gorgeous blooms from the Blue Ridge Parkway in June of 2020.

Have an awesome week!!!!!

Hugs,

Betsy💝💛💚💕



19 comments:

eileeninmd said...

Hello Betsy,
It looks like a wonderful trip. The blossoms are all gorgeous.
Lovely series of photos. Take care, enjoy your day! Wishing you a happy new week!

Ann said...

The flowers are all gorgeous. What a beautiful park. I would love to take a walk there. I don't know what it is but that green ground cover looks like lots of green stars to me. It's so pretty

George said...

You've done a great job of capturing the beauty we found along the Blue Ridge Parkway. I especially like your pictures of the Flame Azaleas.

Dee said...

I would have certainly loved walking through the forest and smelling all that wonderful aroma from the greens and flowers and just good dirt. Our oldest son has those flaming azaleas and they are spectacular in there beauty. Thanks for taking us along. I never tire of beautiful scenery.

Betsy said...

The flowers are all so pretty. I think you are so blessed to be able to travel so much even in these trying times we're finding ourselves in.
Thank you for sharing the beauty and your excitement with those of us that are far away.
Blessings,
Betsy

linda m said...

Those are some awesome pictures. You are so fortunate to live to close to so much beauty.

David said...

Betsy, We just aren't traveling this year due to Covid-19 and the uncertainties of dining, restrooms, masks, social distancing, etc., so you and George are bolder than we are... Lovely photos! Our red azaleas are blooming in the front yard right now...but I do love those orange ones. Stay Safe and Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Brenda Kay Ledford said...

What awesome photos. I love the flowers and fern. Thank you for sharing such lovely shots.

Ruth Hiebert said...

WOW,OH WOW!!! Beauty all around and everything looks so lush.

Ginny Hartzler said...

Well, you HAVE managed to write under your photos, so that is fine. The Flame Azalea blows my mind!!! And I still have never seen Mountain Laurel!

BECKY said...

Your photos are beautiful, Brenda! I especially love the huge photo with the Biltmore Estate. The clouds and water are glorious! (I stopped by here from Jo's blog, Memorable Meanders. I'll be back!

Arkansas Patti said...

So glad you and George can get out to enjoy nature a bit during this isolation. I loved the Flame Azaleas the most. Interesting, if I pause my mouse over the pictures, a white box appears with the name of the plant. Don't know if you planned it or not but it is cool.

Judy said...

Isn't it nice to have pictures to help bring back the memories of your trip.

Linda said...

Wonderful pictures! I love how lush and colorful the plants are!

Busy Bee Suz said...

I have no idea what the colorful ground cover is, but it's so pretty!
I love the upclose photos of the mountain laurel; of course, we don't have that here in HOT Florida.
Gorgeous photos Betsy, I'm so happy you and George were able to get away during all the craziness.
XO

Lowcarb team member said...

Hello Betsy
I loved this post, your beautiful photographs and words underneath the photographs.

Enjoy these last August days, I really don't know where time goes!

My good wishes.

All the best Jan

Jeevan said...

Truly agree with you on the hike though these mountains of wild blossoms! The winding trail through the green ferns and gorgeous rhododendrons inspires to take a walk and you captured all beautiful. I have seen rhododendrons in red in our blue mountains but there leaves are dark and denser than they look in your photos.

Betsy said...

What glorious beauty when I open up your blog. Gorgeous header picture and all that you have captured of nature. Won't be too long before everything will be covered in snow. Happy Saturday to you
betsy

Betsy said...

I meant to add to my comment also that I like the way your page loads so fast. Mine is slow now and it didn't use to be. My links take so long. Your links load quick. I guess I will figure it out eventually.
Betsy