Last spring, one of the wildflowers I photographed in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park was the Showy Orchids – Galearis spectabilis. For the first several days of the Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage, people kept talking about the Showy Orchids and I hadn’t seen any. Finally on my last day, I found three different sets to photograph.
The first set was along the Ogle Trail. I was on a wildflower walk and the walk leader pointed them out. I finally saw what they looked like. After the walk, I went back and photographed the orchids we saw.
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
Later that same afternoon, I was hiking along the Porter’s Creek Trail and spotted several sets of Showy Orchids. The first set I saw had shades of purple along the lip.
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
A few minutes later, I saw another set of Showy Orchids. Most had the white lips similar to the ones I had photographed along the Ogle Trail. A few had the the purple that the other set I saw along the Porters Creek Trail.
(c) 2009 Patty Hankins
Showy orchids are one of the prettiest wildflowers in the Smoky Mountains. The plants grow to between 5 and 10 inches tall. The flowers are about an inch long. They grow in the woods.
I’m really looking forward to the 2009 Spring Wildflower Pilgrimage. I had a great time in 2008 discovering all the sorts of wonderful wildflowers. I can’t wait to go back and photograph some more Smoky Mountain Wildflowers.
