Pinxterbloom azaleas, antennaria, & pink ladies’ slippers

Flowers fill the woods now as the trees’ leaves emerge bright. I haven’t taken many pictures lately so I’ll include here better ones that Denis Manchon took in 2009 and 2010:

The pinxterbloom azaleas (Rhododendron pericliminoides) is just opening from buds like these to full flowering. You can see many of them along the edge of Piersol Road at the base of the ridge. At the base of these shrubs you will also see pussy toes, Antennaria sp.:

Wild geranium, nannyberry viburnum, and dogwoods are also blooming at Crow’s Nest.

And in just a few places we have pink ladies’ slippers (Cypripedium acaule) blooming: