Mountain Laurel (Kalmia latifolia) is one of the most common evergreen shrubs in the mountains of North Carolina.

This years bloom is far more spectacular than we have seen in decades. One visitor commented today that it is "more beautiful than Calloway Gardens when the azaleas are in bloom."

Mountain Laurel is often confused with its larger leafed cousin Rhododendron - of which Rhododendron maxima is our most prolific species locally. It usually blooms in late June and early July.

If you have the chance to come to the mountains in the next week or so, we promise one of the most breath-taking displays of Mountain Laurel in many years.

Of course, you can alway come back for the native Rhododendron too…