Ben's PISGAH INN Bloom Schedule

Ben's unauthorized Pisgah Inn Bloom Schedule. Bloom, Berry, and Butterfly Calendar for the Mount Pisgah region of the Blue Ridge Parkway.
Date	Common Name	Genus species	Notes
Late April or Early May	Bluets	Houstonia caerulea	Tiny blue flowers with yellow or white centers	Photo ©2006 Ben Kershner Used with permission
Late April or Early May	Wild Violets	Viola spp.	small purple flowers	Photo ©2006 Ben Kershner Used with permission
Early to Mid May	Serviceberry	Amelanchier canadensis	small white blossoms on a tree or shrub. A relative of the cherry in the rose family.	Photo ©G. Neece Used with permission.
Early to Mid May	Pink Azalea	Rhododendron periclymenoides	Light pink to white flowers growing in clusters of 2 to 3. Flowers cover the plant evenly. Leaves are somewhat large for an azalea, but smaller than those of the Rhododendron. In the heath/laurel family.	Photo ©2006 Ben Kershner Used with permission
Early to Mid May	Carolina Rhododendron	Rhododendron carolinianum	Large light pink to pure white flowers in clusters of 5 to 9. Flowers grow in clusters, unlike those of the azalea. Leaves are slightly smaller than those of the Catawba or Rosebay Rhododendron. In the heath/laurel family.	Photo ©2005 Bruce O'Connell Used with Permission
Mid May	Elderberry	Sambucus spp.	Domed cluster of tiny yellow or white flowers on a large sprawling shrub. In the Honeysuckle family.	Photo ©2006 Ben Kershner Used with permission
Mid May	Hawthorne	Crataegus spp.	Small 5 pedaled white flowers on a medium sized tree with long sharp thorns. In the rose family.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Mid to Late May	Buttercups	various	Little yellow 5-petal flowers. This name refers to several different plants in the buttercup or the rose family.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Mid to Late May	Staggerbush	Lyonia ferruginea	Small white flowers with 5 tiny petals. Flowers are bowl/bell-shaped when they first bloom, and open wide after a few days. In the heath/laurel family. Sometimes called "fetterbush" (not related to the Leucothoe fetterbush sometimes known as dog hobble)	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Late May	Catawba Rhododendron	Rhododendron catawbiense	Large rich magenta blooms that the parkway is famous for. In the heath/laurel family.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Late May to Early June	Flame Azalea	Rhododendron calendulaceum	Brilliant fiery orange blooms. Buds are yellow-orange before they bloom. In the heath/laurel family.	Photo ©2004 Bruce O'Connell Used with Permission
Early June	Mountain Laurel	Kalmia lattifolia	small, pink or white five-sided 'bowl-shaped' blooms In the heath/laurel family.	Photo ©2005 Barbara Kershner Used with Permission
Early to Mid June	Blueberry	Vaccinium corymbosum	White Bell-shaped flowers in small clusters (date listed is for blooms, not berries) In the heath/laurel family.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Late June to Early July	Rosebay Rhododendron	Rhododendron maximum	Large whitish-pink blooms, less plentiful than the catawba rhododendron. The leaves of the rosebay are larger than those of the other rhododendron species. In the heath/laurel family.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Early to Mid July	Wild Blackberries	Rubus spp.	Tasty black berry clusters (date listed is for berries, not blooms) In the rose family.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Mid July	Blueberries	Vaccinium corymbosum	Tasty blue berries(date listed is for berries, not blooms) In the heath/laurel family.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Late July	Tiger Lily	Lilium lancifolium	Showy trumpet shaped orange flowers with brown or black speckles on the petals. The staulk of the tiger lily is tall, with green leaves growing directly from the length of the staulk. In the lily family.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Late July	Common Yarrow	Achillea millefolium	Crown-like cluster of tiny white flowers. The aromatic leaves of the yarrow are soft and fern-like.. In the Asteraceae family with chrysanthemums and sagebrush.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Late July	Mountain Ash	Sorbus americana	Bright red Berries growing in clusters. Not a true Ash tree, the Mountain Ash is more closely related to the cherry tree, in the rose family.	Photo ©2002 Bruce O'Connell Used with Permission
Early August	Joe Pye weed	Eupatorium purpureum	Also known as Gravel Root. Tall staulk with large domed crown of purple flowers. In the Asteraceae family with chrysanthemums and sagebrush. The name Eupatorium comes from Mithridates Eupator, King of Pontus, who is credited with discovering some of the medicinal properties of this plant.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
Early September	Monarch Butterfly	Danaus plexippus	The orange and black butterflies fly through the mountain pass at route 276 every year on their annual migration route. In the Danaidae family, or the milkweed butterflies.	Used without permission. Photo not available. Please submit a photograph that we may use.
A Note on Flowers in the National Park: Picking flowers in a National Park is not permitted. The beautiful land along the Parkway, including the plants and animals which depend upon it, are protected by the National Park Service. Anything that you found in a National Park, needs to stay in the National Park, be it an old Cherokee artifact, a semi precious stone, or your favorite flower growing along a trail. Please follow the old adage of "take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints."
A Note on Edible Berries in the National Park: Edible berries are the exception to the rule. While everything else you find in the park needs to be left where it was found, feel free to eat any blueberries, blackberries, raspberries, or any other edible wild berries that you may find. I would, however, issue a word of caution against putting unidentified plants into your mouth. The berries of the Arrowwood Viburnum, while blue in color, are not the same as blueberries. For your health, please be certain of what you eat. (while you may eat as many as you would like, it is not permitted to harvest berries into a container -- only take what you can eat while you are here.)

Interested in Birdwatching? For information on birds, check out the National Park Service's Bird Checklist for Mount Pisgah to the Smokies This is a PDF document that lists the various bird species you are likely, (and not so likely) to find along this stretch of the blue ridge parkway. It also identifies how common the sightings are based upon the season of the year. Thanks go out to Ann T. of Maryville, TN, for emailing us this link.

The dates shown refer to the day of the initial sighting, not the peak. Check back for more species added as they bloom. Also, please note that this list is not a guarantee that you will see specific flora or fauna during your stay -- It's just a list of what I have observed in the past.