The terrible weather this weekend postponed my plans to get back up into the mountains until Monday, so I popped down to Valley Falls State Park instead to check out the arrowwood viburnum (Viburnum dentatum) and common ninebark (Physocarpus opulifolius), both now at peak bloom. These beautiful riparian shrubs put on quite a show at the end of May, soon to be followed by mountain laurel (Kalmia latifolia) and the stunning smooth azalea (Rhododendron arborescens), whose pure white flowers with pink-red stamens, lustrous green foliage, and large size make it my favorite azalea in the Appalachians. Other interesting stuff in bloom yesterday included yellow star grass (Hypoxis hirsuta) and American alumroot (Heuchera americana), a rock-loving saxifrage whose numerous cultivars are grown in gardens throughout the world. The Tygart Valley River, swollen by heavy rainfall from this past week, stole the show, however, with its turbulent whitewater reaching the top of the surrounding rock outcrops in places. I was amused a bit by the park staff, who pootled dutifully around the grounds in their golf cart to make sure the tourists kept their distance from the river.
