blue ridge parkway | Beautiful Flower Pictures Blog

Photos from the Road: Mountains and Clouds

by hankinslawrenceimages | Jul 17, 2017 | Tennessee, Virginia

Usually when I’m photographing in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park or along the Blue Ridge Parkway I’m photographing wildflowers. On my most recent trip I spent much more time creating landscape photographs than flower photographs. One of the subjects that repeatedly caught my eye was the idea of mountains and clouds. I thought I’d share some of my quick edits of photos I did on the road of mountains and clouds with you today.

Mountains and Clouds at Woolyback Overlook © 2017 Patty Hankins

Mountains and Clouds in the Smokies © 2017 Patty Hankins

Mountains and Clouds at Clingman's Dome © 2017 Patty Hankins

Mountains and Clouds in the PIsgah National Forest ©2017 Patty Hankins

This last photo is actually a fully edited photo – it is available for sale on my website at http://beautifulflowerpictures.com/store/newfound-gap-great-smoky-mountains-national-park/

Newfound Gap, Great Smoky Mountains National Park © 2017 Patty Hankins

I’m planning on editing up a few more of these and offering them for sale in the coming months. If there is one you particularly like, let me know and I’ll let you know if it becomes available.

Small Purple Fringed Orchids – platanthera psycodes

by hankinslawrenceimages | Mar 24, 2011 | Flowers, Orchidaceae Family, Wildflowers

Last summer, I spent a day driving along the Blue Ridge Parkway in North Carolina. I wasn’t really looking for any specific wildflowers – rather was just curious what I’d find. One of the big surprises came when I took a closer look at a splash of purple I spotted along the side of the road. I’d found one of the native orchids – the Small Purple Fringed Orchid – platanthera psycodes. And once I knew what to look for – I spotted several of them along the side of the road north of Asheville.

Also known as the Lesser Purple Fringed Orchid – these wonderful wild orchids are native to much of the Eastern United States and Canada. In several states – Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kentucky, Maryland, New York, Ohio, Rhode Island and Tennessee – they are listed as endangered or threatened.

The botanical name – platanthera psycodes – describes the flowers beautifully. Platanthera is from Greek for flat flower. While psycodes means like a butterfly. To me – describing these orchids as flat flowers like a butterfly seems pretty accurate.

Small Purple Fringed Orchids grow in woodlands, meadows and marshes, preferably in partial shade. They grow to about 2 feet tall – with an 8″ cluster of pinkish-purple fringed flowers.

Medicinally, the Small Purple Fringed Orchids were used by Native Americans as a remedy for cramps in young children.

More information about the Small Purple Fringed Orchids can be found online at

USDA Plant Profile

Robert W. Freckmann Herbarium University of Wisconsin – Stevens Point

Orchids Wiki

Flora of North America

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center

Native American Ethnobotany

Galax – galax urceolata

by hankinslawrenceimages | Jun 28, 2010 | Flowers, Wildflowers

On my recent trip to North Carolina, one of the wildflowers that I photographed for the first time was galax (galax urceolata). I photographed galax in two locations – on the trail to Erwin’s View of Linville Falls and along the Tanawha Trail near the Linn Cove Viaduct visitor center. It is also known as Beetleweed, Coltsfoot and Wand Flower.

Galax is a member of the Diaspensiaceae family. A perennial with evergreen leaves, galax has dainy white flowers growing on leafless stalks up to 15″ tall. The flowers have 5 white petals. It blooms from May through July.

Native to the United States, it’s native habitat is in mountain woods ranging from Maryland to Alabama. It will grow as far north as USDA Zone 5a and south to USDA Zone 8b. It tends not to do as well in gardens since it prefers the rich well-drained woodland soil to thrive. They do not transplant well – so please don’t dig them up in the wild to add to your garden.

The leaves of the galax are much in demand by the floral industry. Not only will the shiny green leaves stay fresh for weeks, in winter the leaves turn red which adds a wonderful splash of color to holiday decorations. Overcollection of galax is enough of an issue that many localities have imposed limits on the collection of the leaves.

Traditionally galax has been used to treat cuts and wounds. An infusion of the root was used by Native Americans to treat kidney diseases. Information about medical uses is provided for information only – and is not a recommendation to use it medically.

I really enjoyed seeing the galax in the woods as I was hiking the trails along the Blue Ridge Parkway. In the past, I’ve done most of my hiking in the spring when many more woodland wildflower bloom. It was great to discover some of the summer blooming woodland flowers on this trip.

If you’d like to learn about galax – some online sites with additional information include

USDA Plant Profile for Galax

Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Plant Database

Plants for a Future

Galax: An Annotated Bibliography by Mary L. Predney and James L. Chamberlain

USWildflowers.com database

North Carolina Wildflowers – June 2010 Trip – Part 2

by hankinslawrenceimages | Jun 26, 2010 | Flowers, Photo Locations, Wildflowers

Here are a few more photos from my trip to North Carolina and the Blue Ridge Parkway. I had a wonderful trip and am already to head back to the mountains and look for more wildflowers to photograph.

Catawba Rhododendron – Rhododendron catawbiense – photographed at Rhododendron Gardens on Roan Mountain

False Bugbane – trautvetteria caroliniensis – photographed on Roan Mountain

Gray’s Lily – lilium grayi – photographed on Roan Mountain

Spotted Wintergreen – chimaphila maculata – photographed on the trail to Linville Falls

Galax – galax utceolata – photographed along the Tanawha Trail just under the Linn Cove Viaduct

And finally Linville Falls from Erwin’s View. Bill and I had photographed Linville Falls from the other overlooks, but had never made it to Erwin’s View. It’s now my favorite spot to photograph Linville Falls from – next time I’ll just make sure I’m not there in the middle of the day.

I only spent a few days photographing on this trip – but what time I had on the Blue Ridge Parkway was wonderful.

Morning Glory and Wild Potato Vine

by hankinslawrenceimages | Aug 6, 2009 | Flowers, Wildflowers

I recently photographed two members of the Convolvulacae family – the bindeweed or morning glory family – in North Carolina and Tennessee. These plants are known for their funnel shaped flowers.

The first flower I photographed was a purple tall morning glory (ipomoea purpurea) at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville, North Carolina.

The next morning, I found some wonderful pink morning glories growing along the side of the road on the Blue Ridge Parkway, just south of Asheville.

The second member of the Convolvulacaea family I photographed is the Wild Potato Vine (Ipomoea pandurata). The vine grows from an edible tuber-like root that is similar to a sweet potato.

I photographed this group of three wild potato flowers at the North Carolina Arboretum in Asheville.

I then found a few more blossoms to photograph at the Metcalf Bottoms Picnic area in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.