Mountain Laurel grows wild all over the mountain and is in bloom. It is absolutely specular this year! The first and second picture I took today while on a hike of the Mountain Laurel, very beautiful!
Purple Rhododendrons are also in full bloom! I also took the Rhododendron pictures in our garden today.
Purple Rhododendron are beautiful but so are the pink! Check out the next few pictures of the Pink Rhododendron blooms!
can you spot the tiny ants and insect on the blooms?
So which do you like the best, the Mountain Laurel or the Rhododendrons?
Enjoy your evening!
Check out my handcrafted Black Walnut Feathered Crotch Sushi Board. The colors on this board are beautiful!
Michael's Woodcrafts 
Ahhh you knew I wanted to see your mountain laurel! Lovely – you are a lucky man to be able to walk on your mountain. Very nice. That board is calling my name. Don’t you think I need it at my house?
Yes, the other day when you mentioned it was just too early but the warm weather started them all blooming today. They will probably bloom the rest of the week, then they will be gone until next year! I enjoy hiking the mountain, good for the stress! I sent you an email back on the board!
I love Mountain laurel—when I spent my summers in Black Mt during college—a piece of my heart remained always in the mountains. Mountain Laurel always takes me back to that special time and place. . .Beautiful!!!
Thank you for sharing Michael—
hugs and love–Julie
Good evening Julie! Me too, I love it, more than anything that blooms on the mountain. Since we are on the north side of the mountain we are covered in the mountain laurel. I love Black Mountain, nice city and wonderful places to hike too! Big hugs Julie! 🙂
The rhododendrons our our coastal river property bloom BLUE! That is due to the amount of iron in the water. Lots of boats, docks, (even entire mobile homes!) etc. with rusty metal in them have gone into the river over the years. My mom said her mom used to bury rusty steel nails next to her rhododendron plants in Texas to “force” them to bloom blue. Just a little factoid for you. 🙂
That’s cool, I have never seen a blue rhododendron, I would love to see a picture! I might try the rusty nails and see what happens next year! thanks for the tip 🙂
I’ll get some photos this year and send them to you once they bloom! (They might be blue and blooming already!)
Great, I would love to see them!! 🙂
Our flowers are blooming too! Yours are so beautiful!
They are beautiful aren’t they!!
I love them both Michael, but Mointain Laurel is new to me and it is quite lovely! My first rhododendron flower opened yesterday, just in time to get spoilt by the long awaited rain, but I am not complaining as we so desperately needed some moisture!
Thank you Cathy! Love them both, maybe we can see a picture posted of your rhododendron? 🙂
Soon, when it stops raining!
the rhodies are always gorgeous, but that mountain laurel is spectacular!
I like the both but really love the mountain laurel! thank you Tex!
I think I like Mountain Laurel best but that’s only because I rarely see them. Rhodies are every bit as beautiful.
The grain on the board is amazing! I don’t think I’ve ever seen that. Is it because of the way it was sawn, like a quarter sawn board?
I agree with you Allen, love the mountain laurel the most! It is very beautiful this year. Not too far of a hike we have a mountain ravine that is on the north side of the mountain and it is covered in mountain laurel, all of it was blooming today! The walnut crazy grain is what they call figured-feathered crotch. It comes from the crotch of a walnut tree of the first couple of large limbs that branch out.
I love both, but I especially like the rhododendron because when I was little and we had the May crowning at my grammar school my Mom used to have my sisters and I carry bouquets of rhododendron that grew in our back yard. Your photos are lovely Michael! And I love the sushi board!
That’s nice, it is amazing how things bring our childhood memories back. Thank you Mary Ann, the sushi board turned out great! 🙂
I love seeng spring blossom all over!
Ahh spring flowers in the mountains. Perfection.
Your sushi board is lovely.
Yes, don’t you love the Mountain Laurel? I know you have probably seen it when you lived in Knoxville! Thank you , it turned out great!
Beautiful flowers Michael! It seems we have survived a harsh winter and beautiful flowers are in bloom!
Good evening Bernice, I know you guys had it really hard this past winter but it seems mother nature is giving you guys beautiful flowers!!! That’s awesome!! 🙂