Rhododendron flowers, a necklace, and pride

This year, one of my travel goals has been to see the rhododendron in bloom. Through exploration and research, ecstasy was achieved; the blooms were awesome, and they inspired a beaded art necklace.

June, 2024. The spring bloom period in the eastern woodlands finally reaches the Appalachian mountains. Gardens in the cloud forest create a spectrum of color, coinciding with LGBTQ+ Pride month. Along the Blue Ridge Parkway, Flame Azalea shines bright orange, and mountain Laurel shows a range of pinks. Catawba Rhododendron blooms, at elevations 3000 ft and above, this intense magenta-purple-pink-fuschia that complement the dark green leaves against the blue sky/gray fog, which I love so much. (I wish I could pollinate you all like the bees do!)

Truly a flower of the moment, the Catawba Rhododendron illuminates the mountainsides for up to a two-week period, then wilts quickly and falls. And though it’s intensely beautiful, you can’t take it with you.

RHODA: THE EVENT

“It seems like no one else cares about Rhododendron. “

In 2022, it was a quest to find these blooms, but they were found near the Peaks of Otter in Virginia. Two years later, with more knowledge about the different species of Rhododendron and their habitats – and more time to explore – I embark on this quest again.

First, I plan a camping event at our Fancy Gap land, called “RHODA,” but no one else is available; I have a wonderful time camping and hiking but none of the Rhododendron bushes around here are blooming (I now believe that they are all Rosebay/ Rhododendron Maximum, the light-pink blooming variety that bloom later).

Around Grandfather Mountain, NC (~5000 ft elev), a day later, I become immersed in a foggy wonderland with flame azalea, mountain laurel, and more colorful flowers; I hike to Upper Creek Falls, and then into Linn Cove under the Parkway Viaduct (!) which are epic and amazing, but without Catawba Rhododendron. (I had seen photos with blooms posted from this area). Only on the way south, near Jonas Ridge, do I pass a single bush with its unmissable bell-shaped bunches of pink-purple flowers, as I end today’s search.

Finally, as I near Craggy Gardens, the flowers appear more frequently along the Parkway, and at Craggy Pinnacle overlook, they are everywhere. Craggy Gardens (along with Roan Mountain) is famous for its Rhododendron blooms, and now I understand why. Thickets full of flowers cover this heath bald, in all stages of bloom from pink-purple buds to yellow-tipped fallen petals, on small bushes and on wise old trees with wind-bent branches. It’s wonderful. There are plenty of folks around, but it’s not crowded today. The weather is pleasant; bright and breezy. Between the Pinnacle overlook and the picnic area, I spend at least two hours here, frolicking, posing, and eating peanut butter & berries with the bees. I’m even dressed like the rhododendron. It’s RHODA, the event, and I am in ecstasy, wearing a flower crown.

FLOWER OF THE MOUNTAIN

Rhododendron Catawbiense was named by botanist Andre Michaux, as he explored the upper Catawba river valley in the late 1700s. It was near here, around the sources of the Catawba River, where he found the colorful blooms and so named the shrub species for its location. The river was named for the indigenous Catawba people, who lived along it from this area into the Piedmont.

“It’s where I belong down at The Pink [Rhodie] club…”

In the Piedmont, spring is turning into summer, and Pride festivals are happening. Chappell Roan plays a show in Raleigh, and the club where I’ll set up for a market hosts an afterparty. To songs like “Pink Pony Club” and “Red Wine Supernova,” I make this rhododendron flower motif necklace, with abalone shell pendant, amethyst, rose quartz green fluorite (foliage), jasper, rainbows, pinks and blue glass beads. I decide that if rhododendron flowers were a person, they would be Chappell Roan (mountain).

This past weekend, the necklace sold at a fair in Apex, NC. The pink colors attracted her; I told her its story, and she appreciated it. Thank you, Maggie! 💓

MUSIC PLAYLIST

“Pink Pony Club” by Chappell Roan https://youtu.be/GR3Liudev18?si=esRHCetJa_vM7hj3

“Red Wine Supernova” by Chappell Roan https://youtu.be/VS6ixn2berk?si=bwLVOReLdM5VxT3S

“Flower of the Mountain” by Kate Bush https://youtu.be/qqn033CsviI?si=ImYptbPWWoTMiw-g