May brings to mind the flowers of pinkshell azaleas for this time of year is when they reach peak bloom in the mountains of North Carolina. Rhododendron vaseyi is one of our beautiful yet lesser known native Rhododendron. This species was first found by George Vasey in 1878 and is native to only a handful of counties in western North Carolina, perhaps owing its success to slight disturbances from time to time. While not extremely rare, it is considered threatened due to climate change and loss of habitat from development. The good news is even with its limited range, it grows great in gardens where the environment suits it well. And, while I do want to give it a go in Texas one day, I do believe it is better suited to climes further north.
Years ago in grad school before I moved to Texas, I learned of this species, and wanted to see it in the wild. While there are scattered plants along the Blue Ridge Parkway, I had heard that a botanic garden in the southern Appalachians named Southern Highlands Reserve housed one of the largest populations in the world. If you’ve never heard of Southern Highlands Reserve, this garden is a biological ark whose mission is to preserve, educate people about, and propagate the incredible diversity of the southern Appalachians. For on these eroded pinnacles grow species unique to the southeast—some rare, some only occurring in a few counties, and some relics of the last ice age. These mountain tops have been called islands in the sky since they house species that can’t go any lower or higher to avoid a warming climate that is creeping up the slopes.
I arrived after driving a winding road through a private development to find the gardens imbued with spring freshness under a clear, bluebird sky. The tour started in the modern meets rustic Chestnut Lodge where we learned that the 120 acre garden was once slated to become 22 lots for development until Robert and Betty Balentine, who live right across the road, stepped in and decided that they would rather preserve nature than see it destroyed.
Even though this botanic garden is relatively young having opened in 2006, the unique mission and climate of the gardens has already reached international renown. And, once outside we saw that even though the landscape had been molded by the hands of man, it looked mature for its age since many large trees remained. On the tour early spring flowering plants like Phlox stolonifera (creeping phlox), Trillium catesbaei (Catesby’s trillium), Podophyllum peltatum (mayapple), and Iris cristata (dwarf crested iris) had begun their spring displays, and perennials in the labyrinth were just starting to emerge.
Phlox stolonifera carpets the ground.
Phlox stolonifera softens the edges of this staircase.
A vibrant pink Trillium catesbaei sports wavy leaves and petals.
Podophyllum peltatum umbrellas rise from the forest floor.
Iris cristata provides a nice footing for emerging Osmundastrum cinnamomeum (cinnamon fern) fiddleheads.
Though only a few years old, the hardscape at Southern Highlands Reserve were already imbued with age.
I loved this carpet of moss with various forbs emerging from it.
The wildflower labyrinth is easy to navigate now before it erupts into an herbaceous maze later in the summer.
It is no surprise that the flora grows well here. This site receives around 90 inches of rain a year, which classifies it as a temperate rainforest! I first learned about this ecosystem in the southeast when I visited Highlands, NC several years ago. There's something about hearing the word rainforest that enchants the mind and conveys something other worldly.
We walked down the Vaseyi trail toward Vaseyi pond where as the website says “the largest known natural stand of Rhododendron vaseyi in the world“ is known to occur, and the pinkshells were just popping into bloom. This part of the preserve was designed by renowned garden designer W. Gary Smith, who has a hand for crafting incredible natural areas. The tour guides noted that specimens in the landscape and around the pond were in peak blossom, but under the deciduous forest canopy, buds had barely begun to pop open, a difference which illustrated something the gardeners monitor. Southern Highlands Reserve compares the phenology in wild and cultivated areas to see if any differences are observed, knowledge which is internal to The Biodiversity Project at the garden. It serves as a catalog to document climate change as well as a comparison for areas that are managed versus allowed to remain natural.
Closeup of the pinkshell rhododendron flowers. Note the id characteristics; most blooms have 5 (to 7) anthers and spots on the upper part of the throat.
A much lighter form of Rhododendron vaseyi…
…and a darker pink Rhododendron vaseyi.
Rhododendron vaseyi on the edge of Vaseyi Pond shimmer in the reflection.
Doing an about face from the pond photo above yields this view. Named the Viewsite, this spot provides a spectacular view of the Blue Ridge Mountains.
Fothergilla (witch-alder) bloom with their bottlebrush inflorescences near the Viewsite.
We then walked up to their propagation area. This neat staircase was modeled to look like a snake.
Of course, studying the gardens is not the only way they conduct research about the Appalachians. The gardens also propagate species like Picea rubens (red spruce) as part of Southern Appalachian Spruce Restoration Initiative. This conifer is so threatened in the southern part of its range that spruce-fir forests are the second most endangered ecosystem in the US. The population has suffered from logging, fires that decimated plants 100 years ago, air pollution, and a warming, drying climate. Restoration is compounded by the fact that growth is slower at high elevations. These trees serve as a valuable niche for Carolina northern flying squirrels, a federally endangered species that in this part of the world is a relic of the last ice age. These mammals eat truffles that grow at the base of the trees, and eating male red spruce cones provides the squirrels with an oil that suppresses a parasite they catch from their southern flying squirrel counterparts. The garden reported that they are the only facility in the southeast growing these trees for reintroduction. The tour guides shared that the staff is excited to help plant seedlings into damaged ecosystems.
Picea rubens being grown for reintroduction into the surrounding forests.
Thus, preservation of the land at Southern Highlands Reserve has lead to efforts to save species throughout the Appalachians, and the garden's mission becomes a holistic cycle of protecting things that are beautifully and uniquely southern. May we all share this same spirit of saving what we can while we can.