Great Smoky Mountains
Small Wonders
Tiger Swallowtail-- no, it's not a flower, but here's a nod to one of the agents helping make it all possible.
I am on record in another album of mine as saying that I think the blooming desert is nature's finest floral display, and one could easily and convincingly say the same thing about summer tundra, but the flowers of the southern Appalachians can vie with those of anywhere else. Their existence does not seem as miraculous as those of desert and tundra blooms do, but there is more variety and a longer growing season in the Southeast, and many a shutterbug has spent many an hour crouched behind a tripod in the Blue Ridge, the Smokies, and other Appalachian ranges in the pursuit of perfect wildflower photos. I do not claim my shots represent perfection, but they should show the diversity and color that abound in these mountains.
