Platanthera grandiflora (Large Purple Fringed orchid) in bud

Walter Ezell and I made a last-minute decision to go up to the Blue Ridge Parkway in western North Carolina on Saturday morning to check out the wildflowers -- especially to see if the Purple Fringed orchids had started to bloom. We saw a lot of colorful Summer wildflowers along the way...

To check out the full trip report, please go to Jim's Blog.