Starting before the winter’s snows have melted and continuing well into late autumn, there is a gay and colorful procession of wildflowers in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. The luxuriant, highly varied vegetation of these mountains includes approximately 1,500 species of native flowering herbs, shrubs, and trees. In fact, the park could appropriately be called “The Wildflower National Park.” As Arthur Stupka, who for 25 years was Park Naturalist in the Smokies, says, “Vegetation to the Great Smoky Mountains National Park is what granite domes and waterfalls are to Yosemite, geysers are to Yellowstone, and sculptured pinnacles are to Bryce Canyon National Park.”
—Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers
Although I don’t live in the Smokies, I’m close enough that we share many of the same wildflowers. From early spring till fall of the year there are lovely blooms if one is able to get out and search for them.
While I like all wildflowers, I’m especially drawn to the small delicate dainty ones like Trailing Arbutus that you have to really look for.
Today’s Thankful November giveaway is a very used copy of Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers by Carlos C. Campbell, William F. Hutson, and Aaron J. Sharp. A previous owner of the book has used it as a journal and noted the dates they ran across many of the wildflowers. Leave a comment on this post to be entered. *Giveaway ends November 27, 2022.
Last night’s video: Getting Ready for Thanksgiving & Sharing Stories From The Kitchen.
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I love wildflowers and I would like to learn about them and about what plants you can use for medicinal purpose and to eat. As someone said above my mother and grandmother are gone, they were my wealth of knowledge and I so wish I had written down and learned their knowledge when I was younger, now I can’t remember everything they tried to teach me.
My mother was my ‘wildflower book’. She would take us on walks & tell us the names of wildflowers & weeds. She would tell us the story of Queen Anne’s Lace & why there was a drop of blood in the center. Recently, she found a whole patch of pitcher plants (wow, that’s a mouthful) and brought one home for my daughter. I guess its meant to stay in the woods, because it isn’t growing too well in the house! I had never seen one before. The funny thing is, my mom really doesn’t have a green thumb, but she knows all about the wildflowers. I love to identify plants/trees in my region. I won’t be seeing too many plants for the next several months. We just got about 15 inches of snow this week (& we didn’t even get hit as bad as the folks that live just 7 miles away). All I’ll see is evergreens & lots & lots of WHITE.
I’ve always loved to walk in the woods in early spring and see the various wildflowers common here in the northern panhandle of WV. Like Matt and Tipper we could just step out our door and the wooden hill came right up to our yard.
My favorite wildflowers are probably the Trillium. We have white, red and sometimes I see a purple one. I also enjoy seeing the Touch-me-not, Lady’s Slipper and the Dutchman’s Britches.
And although I don’t think the Yellow Daffodil is a wild flower here we have them on the hill behind our house. When I was a boy I dug up a bunch as big as a bucket and took them home and planted them in our yard. As far as I know they are probably still growing there. I found them all through the woods in big clusters that much have grown there for a long time. They were always a mystery to me but I loved seeing them each spring.
We also have Queen Ann’s Lace, Golden Rod, Periwinkle, Buttercups, Touch-Me-Nots, Lady’s Slipper and Dutchman’s Britches. At least that is the names I’ve always known them by.
I’d love to have a copy of Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers.
Wildflowers are wonderful, no matter where they are. God created so much beauty for us to enjoy.
Please add my name to the drawing. I’ve just recently learned of your channel couple weeks ago and thoroughly enjoy watching your vids. Thank you for your time in sharing your recipes and the way of life in the Appalachians. I love thé mountains and sll the beauty they hold for us to look upon, the Majesty and beauty of nature.
I’m sorry, Linda, I didn’t see any other way to comment and asked to be entered into the drawing, but by your comment. I hope Tipper sees this and enters my name. I get her Blind Pig and the Acorn, but didn’t see my comment space, so forgive me. Mary Jane.
I love seeing wildflowers, but don’t know the name of a lot of them. I’m trying to learn them. The book sounds good, but with all the hand written notes to read too, makes it a treasure!
TIPPER, THANK YOU FOR SHOWING ME WHAT THE TRAILING ARBUTUS LOOKS LIKE. SOMETIMES AS I WATCHED AN EPISODE OF THE WALTONS, GRANDPA ZEB WALTON WOULD THANK THE LORD FOR THE TRAILING ARBUTUS. THAT ALWAYS MADE ME WANT TO SEE WHAT ONE LOOKED LIKE, AND NOW I KNOW. THANK YOU FOR THIS LESSON. HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Everywhere I’ve lived I explored the fields and woods to see nature. I’m always surprised at what’s out there. Even in the desert of Arizona if a tenth of an inch of rain falls the desert blooms. I saw a plant called David’s Star in AZ that I was told the only other place in the world it grows in in Israel. We’ve lived here in the NC mountains less than two years and I’ve probably asked neighbors about plants I’ve seen at least 40 times.
I love wildflowers and would love to have the book
Wildflowers are such a beautiful gift from nature. And a wildflower book with hand written notes is a gem. It would be a joy to be its new owner.
I live in North Alabama in the valley between Lookout Mt. ( in the foothills of the Appalachian Mts) One day on a hiking trail near Noccalula Falls my daughter and I found three little brown cup like plants. On closer inspection we saw smoke coming from them. I have tried and tried to find the plant on websites witn no luck. Is there anything like that in the book you are giving away or have seen a plant like this?
Wild flowers are my all time favorite flowers! Not only are they beautiful, but the sweet little things grow uninvited & unrestrained. Wildflowers have always been a symbol of freedom to me, & I often picked a bouquet of them to give to my Mom when I was a child. Would love the book!
Tipper – I so enjoy the warmth of your Thanksgiving Messages. In the Spirit of Fall when “us younguns” usta gather up prickly chestnuts (Castania dentata) in our hand woven baskets, and Grandaddy would prick ‘en with his handy pocketknife and we’d all roast ‘em on an open fire all snug around the hearth in anticipation of their heavenly aroma and tastiness – It’s in that fondness of days’ old memories, that I give you my “Message From the Chestnut,” “It keeps smoldering from the roots, and sending up new shoots…” as Robert Frost wrote in his famous poem, “Evil Tendencies Cancel.” I just thought I’d help to get the American Chestnut’s message out to as many folks I could. Please feel free to share it with your people: https://www.tenbrunsel.com/message-from-the-chestnut.
Happy Holidays,
Tom Tenbrunsel
tenbrunsel.com
PS: Tipper, I was on the Board of the American Chestnut Foundation back in the 1980s
Crocus reminds me that Spring is coming!
I love wildflowers! It’s kind of like being on a treasure hunt, you never know what you will find. I enjoyed last night’s video so much! I love old glass pitchers, bowls, anything to do with a kitchen. I think my favorite was the old tin cake plate and top that Granny gave you. That is so cute. One thing I treasure is a yellow bowl that my dad used when he did the cooking. He was a really good cook along with my mama. This bowl has marks in the bottom of it where he chopped some things up. It wasn’t an expensive bowl, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything in this world. Have a blessed day everyone! Getting close to turkey time!!!
I just finished cross stitching 12 Appalachian wildflower squares I’m putting in a quilt for a friend who lives in Boone and is a wildflower lover. It would make a great companion to that quilt, if I can get it finished!
No, you don’t live in the Smokies! Neither do I! Almost nobody does! In fact the most conspicuously missing of its native species are its people.
The Smokies are a nature preserve controlled, not by nature, but by Washington bureaucrats. That’s a recipe for disaster. Unnatural disaster.
What a welcome addition to one’s personal library; that it includes a few notes and inscriptions lends to its character and history. It’s like the walls of an old house; the stories within its covers are an immeasurable treasure! Would certainly enjoy adding this well travelled little book to mine.
Flowers make me happy. I would truly enjoy having a copy of this wildflower book. I enjoy all of your videos of your family and your gardens. Thank you for all you do to celebrate life and living!
I can’t imagine ever having to live out my days anywhere but in the mountains. Around every bend is a different view of god’s creation. As if that was not enough, he sprinkled wildflowers around to beautify and give us joy. Then to add to our earthly pleasure, we have seasons to change about what we view and feel daily/ We are blessed! One of my favorite things to do was when I visited my Dad’s mountain, I liked to take the young ones on a hike and let them find treasures and win prizes. Such a simple pastime, and was a great time for discovery. An old logging trail was really amazing. We even found a huge, abandoned piece of equipment once.
Please put my name in the hat! I love everything as about the mountains.
I was surprised to learn after a trip to Ireland a couple of years ago that the shamrock, a symbol of Ireland, is a wildflower, so I brought a shamrock growing kit back as a gift to my sister. Later that summer, I was sitting on my patio and saw some little pink flowers poking their heads up in my flowerbed. Guess what? They were shamrocks growing naturally in my back yard! I never knew they grew in Georgia. The leaves and dainty little flowers are so beautiful so I have made a point not to disturb them, and just yesterday I walked out on my patio and guess what! They’re blooming again! Don’t know how they made it through some of our colder days. Like my mother, I love flowers in any form and especially appreciate the little flowers that poke their heads up under some of the most difficult circumstances. Mother Nature is full of surprises!
We have lived in a swamp since 1978.
I had to learn the names of the wildflowers that flourish here.
How lovely. I don’t think I could part with a book that had hand written notes in it like that. What a treasure.
I would love to see and read this book, maybe I could identify some wild flowers here in southern Ohio.
I so enjoy the glimpses into your family and region. I would love the book. I followed several folks walking the Appalachian Trail this year. Am wondering if you are close to the trail. Thank you for all you hard work and sweet personality.
I bless the junior high school teachers who required my daughters to photograph and identify 50 different wildflowers. They learned that there are so many species of yellow wildflowers that you could probably just do 50 yellow wildflowers. It inspired in them a life long love and appreciation of what God plants.
I like looking at/reading books on wildflowers, trees, animals, birds in the Appalachia area, with the added notes in this book, I agree with some of the other posts, that this will make this book even more interesting.
Wildflowers are all around where I live. Would love to see if the wildflowers in the book are in my area, too.
I bought 90,000 wildflower seeds that contained 32 varieties to plant in an area I don’t want to mow. Very few came up due to the drought we were experiencing at planting time. Frost flowers have been putting on an amazing show as they try to compete with the few wildflowers that survived several weeks of below-freezing temperatures.
I love finding notes in used books that I buy. Kinda like having a conversation with the person who owned it previously! Thanks for sharing.
I have a little mountain cabin up in our local mountains outside of San Diego, CA. I get so much joy spending time up there hiking & looking at all the beautiful, varied wild flowers. Each season brings new flowers to enjoy. Even now I can see a few delicate tiny purple ones hanging on, though we’ve had snow and freezing temperatures at night.
I get my love of flowers from my late Momma. She had various ones growing in her yard all my life along with the bounty of her garden. I’m not a gardener because of my physical disability but I’m going to give it my best this spring to honor her. This book sounds good!!!
I love used books! Particularly ones that have been written in. So much to glean from.
You must go all year planning and gathering for Thankful November. I am not much of a shopper myself but I recall an occasion or two when I was with someone else and they’d say, “Oh, _______ would really like this!” And then they wouldn’t get themselves anything. I wish I was more that way, thinking of others first.
I guess I must have gotten my bent toward forestry between my Dad being an outdoorsman and my Mom knowing the names of the wildflowers. I remember her telling us what hepaticas were as the first wildflower I had a name for. Haven’t ever stopped looking and learning since.
I would treasure that wildflower book. I purposely buy used books. They need a home ,too. Do you ever tire of us telling you how much we admire your sharing of Appalachia?
Donna-I never do 🙂 I’m always surprised, pleased, and amazed that folks enjoy what I do 🙂
Yes wildflowers in the mountains are from Gods paintbrush! I wish I could memorize their names but there are so many!
Would love to own a cherished wildflower journal. I enjoy the colors of wildflowers but sometimes the invasion into my structured garden can be frustrating.
Oh my, owning that book would be a treasure. The handwritten notes are priceless and teach you so much about the mountains and local plants and flowers. Tipper, I hope you know how much we appreciate your work and writing and videos. When I first discovered your writing years ago, I would be talking about you and Deer Hunter and Chitter and Chatter and Pap and Paul and Granny, and my husband and son would ask, “Who?” Now, they ask what did Tipper write about today? When I wear my rings, they comment on the beautiful workmanship. When I cook out of your ebook, they don’t say much ’cause their mouths are full…..hahaha. Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and enjoy your family.
As a writer of stories set in the Smoky Mountains, I try to record changes in weather, flora, and fauna. This book would provide a trove of knowledge for me.
I’ve only lived here at my place now for seven years. I don’t go many places so I say that I’m an intimate with place kinda person. I enjoy getting to know when natural things are going to happen. When certain trees will bud or flower will bloom. The phrenology of the plants.
When to tap my maples for sap. This past season marked my 50th year making maple syrup.
I started making syrup in junior high school. My son is getting into plant identification lately which gives me great pleasure. He has not until recently wanted to learn them. So I get pictures he has taken on his phone often asking what is this. Or a bird. The grandkids love to walk with me, I point out plants…when my son is walking with his kids and doesn’t know a plant they say send a picture to Gramps he’ll know. That delights me.
Good Morning all Blind Pigs and loyal followers. It’s a beautiful- but- chilly morning in southern PA, and I can just imagine the frost on the mount in Wilson Holler. I love this time of the year and all the brave flowers, berries and such that are braving the colder temps. Wishing everyone a great and blessed day.
I find it amazing just how colorful fall and even winter really is.
Oh how I would love to win that! I am quite familiar with Montana and Colorado wildflowers, and have experienced so many picture postcard moments in fields full of them. I would love to learn about the wildflowers in the Great Smoky Mountains. My Dad lived in Waynesville, NC for 20 years. God Bless and Happy Thanksgiving!
I love old stuff to.The memovies as to where they come from are precious.Takes me back when things were much slower when I was growing up.Thank you
Sounds like a wonderful book. I love wildflowers and this post made me do some thinking. I was raised with 2 siblings (sisters) and I cannot recall either of them taking walks in the woods , bringing little bouquets of wild flowers to mom, etc. I guess , now that I think about it I was the nature child. I find an inner peace in nature that nothing else gives me except our good Lord and in my heart the two go together like mashed taters and gravy!
Your post brought to mind a song I used to sing, “The Poor Man’s Garden.” It was “the garden God made, the open countryside.” You would like it.
I enjoy your emails and videos. Please keep them coming! Happy Thanksgiving
Tipper,
I read your posts everyday and they take me back to the wonderful memories of our summer vacations in Western North Carolina. We spend two weeks leaving the heat of Columbia, SC behind and wrap ourselves in the beauty and cool days of the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains. Thank you for sharing your family and life with us flatlanders.
Blessings from former Guilford County resident,
Starr Lawson
I love wildflowers. from the Trailing Arbutus that you mentioned, to Trout Lillies, to the grand Maypop, Tennessee’s State Wildflower and so many more, each have their own special beauty.
I love used books that have been dog-eared, marked up, highlighted, and underlined. Whoever wins Great Smoky Mountains Wildflowers will be one lucky human!
I really,really, really love flowers, especially wild flowers. I sure hope there will be flowers in heaven ♡ HAPPY THANKSGIVING to all of the Blind Pig and Acorn family !
We bought property in East Tennessee nearly two years ago now that is directly above the Smoky Mountains. I am not sure that we have all the same wild flowers as we are further north but boy do we have wild flowers! Although we lived in Middle Tennessee for over 40 years, never have I seen so many different wild flowers and plants as we have in this area. When your post mentions a flower I like to see if we have it here and often we do!
Seeing the photo of Trailing Arbutus brought a rush of memories from my childhood, exploring the woods near my house in search of wildflowers and interesting mosses and plants. I especially remember brushing aside the melting snow crystals in search of teaberries.
We lived stop a mountain in East Tennessee, not in the Smokies, but with much of the same flora. The Flame Azaleas and purple rhododendron were spectacular.
I would love to have the Wildflowers of the Great Smoky Mountains book. What memories that might stir …
I just love wildflowers! The Bible says King Solomon in all his glory couldn’t match simple flowers in the grass and my AINT it the truth? We live in a wonderful place close enough to the Smokies for me…. I got a hard cover book the other day about wildflower medicinal uses from the Southwest Indian Foundation. I can’t wait to get started! As a RN, I’m telling you the truth that you can take 95 % of the pills and so called treatments and throw them in a trash bin. You’d be better off eating grass and hoping for the best. Don’t trust anybody especially people who are strangers in the hospital. Trust me, you don’t want to know all the truth…
While working on my Master’s at UVA in 1977-78, I photographed quite a few of the wildflowers around the area of Whitetop Mountain in SWVA and compiled the slides into a presentation using my Kodak Carousel projector. I believe that was my most enjoyable project throughout my college experience.
My father’s hobby was photographing the wildflowers of the Midwest (Minnesota, Wisconsin primarily). He had the best equipment the 1950’s and 1960’s had to offer. I used to go hunting flowers with him. We never, ever picked the flowers. My favorite one was, and is, the little, tiny Calypso purple orchid. Upon my father’s passing, my mother, with my brother and my agreement, donated much of his collection to the University of Minnesota’s Natural History Museum, where we were students.
What a pleasant memory for this snowy morning!
We don’t call this God’s Country for nothing! These mountains, our mountains are a wonderland for anyone who takes time to look. These are my family roots and I have lived here for most of my life. Every day when I get up, get dressed and head for the gym I am surrounded by mountains from every direction. We are nestled in the loving arms of the mountains!
Last night’s vlog was such a treat. I love it when you share your family and memories. It does bring back some of the best snippets of my memories. You do have a way of sharing that is so special. God Bless
I love wildflowers too. I now live in Northeast Ohio and I don’t think we have as many wildflowers as I remember growing up in the hills and hollows of Southeastern Kentucky. The Smokies was a popular vacation destination when I was growing up and I remember seeing beautiful wildflowers at Cades Cove. This excerpt brought back those memories. Thank you, Tipper.
I loved last night’s video! Such great memories! God bless you and yours❤❤
Tipper,
The comments and dates sure sound interesting.
it is a joy to spot the hidden wild flowers. I remember the first time I spotted a tiny purple one reaching through a pile of leaves. it brought the biggest smile to my face. now I am always looking.
We enjoy visiting the Smoky mountains at all seasons of the year. Fall, winter, spring, and summer all have their charms of nature.