Rhododendron Bloom Report: July 10, 2019

Ted Lenk Rhododendron Bloom Reports

Hey folks-
If you aren’t going to be around after this weekend, go see the show.

A close up of several flowers showing spots on the uppermost petal. Are these there to help guide foragers (“pollinators”)? Will they floresce (glow) in UV light? It is true that many insects can “see” UV light that is not visible to us.

However, this coming week and the following weekend will still be a good show (at least as good as it’s going to get this year – good but not as fantastic as it has been in the past).

This picture plus the next three show the various stages of the blooms in the grove this week
expanding flower bud soon to bloom
A flower bud that is still pretty tight but will be open within the next two weeks or so
Completely spent blossoms – you won’t see a lot of these this weekend
These flower buds don’t show much pink at all-is it a different strain?
These flower buds have evidently read the Rhododendron rule book
Pets are not allowed (this is a state law) on the Rhodo Loop itself but leashed pets are allowed on the M&M trail that leads up to the summit of Little Monadnock (the trailhead for this trail can be found by looking for two granite pillars on the edge of the parking lot). If you are coming just to see the show, it would be better to leave your pets behind. Some days I have seen up to five cars parked next to each other and all the dogs left in them were barking furiously. What a mess!

Two things to remember:

  • TAKE ONLY PHOTOS AND LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS
  • IT IS BUGGY AT THE GROVE
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Ted Lenk

Ted Lenk is an NH State Park Volunteer who checks in regularly at Rhododendron State Park.

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