Flowers – Purple Coneflower

A native to the eastern United States, purple coneflowers are found in many flower gardens. Planting purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea) in the garden or flower bed draws bees and butterflies, ensuring that nearby plants have plenty of pollinators. Captured these in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Purple Coneflower

Flowers – Purple Cape Marguerite

Marguerite daisy flowers are terrific butterfly and other pollinator attractors. Available in a variety of hues from white or yellow to pink or purple depending on the species, these daisies are similar in appearance to the Shasta daisy. Found these flowers in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Purple Cape Marguerite

Flowers – Mountain Hydrangea

Mountain Hydrangea lives up to its name. It shares the showy blooms and beautiful pink or purple color of big-leaf hydrangeas, but because it grows wild on the chilly mountain tops instead of the mild seaside, it naturally developed substantially better cold tolerance. The sturdy lacecap blooms will be bright pink or deep purple-blue, depending on your soil pH, and the handsome dark green foliage resists wilting. Found these in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Mountain Hydrangea

Flowers – Blazing Star

Commonly called blazing star, gayfeather, or prairie star, is a versatile North American plant with plenty of ornamental allure. Noted for their tall, stately plumes of amethyst or white and delicate grass-like foliage, it is an appealing, durable wildflower. This beauty was captured in Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Blazing Star

Foggy Images – Moses Cone Manor View

Low hanging clouds create a foggy scene over Bass Lake as viewed from Moses Cone Manor. Flat Top Manor, as it is most commonly known, is also called the Moses Cone Manor, and is located on Blue Ridge Parkway near Blowing Rock, North Carolina.

Cone Manor Midst Greenery
Bass Lake from Cone Manor on Foggy Day

Bass Lake from Cone Manor

Located on the hills near Blowing Rock, North Carolina, the Moses Cone Manor house, completed in 1901, is an impressive piece of period architecture popping out of the mountain landscape.  The walk down the steps provides a breath-taking view of Bass Lake below and the surrounding mountains accented by the always changing sky.

Bass Lake from Cone Manor

Golfing Landscapes

Being a golfer allows me to experience the marvels of nature and man-made landscaping. I will be posting images that I have captured, often with a phone camera, on golf courses to show their beauty.

Here is a golf course nestled in the Blue Ridge Mountains near Blowing Rock, North Carolina

Golfing in the Valley