It's a beautiful time of year in the mountains of Western North Carolina. Days are warm, nights are cool and everything is turning green. And, to top it off, the mountain-laurel is starting to bloom. And it's everywhere.

If you want to get all technical about it, mountain-laurel is officially called kalmia latifolia, a species of flowering plant in the blueberry family. It is native to the eastern United States, is an evergreen shrub whose flowers range from light pink to white, and blooms in May and June. All parts of the plant are poisonous and according to Wikipedia, "Symptoms of toxicity begin to appear about 6 hours following ingestion. Symptoms include irregular or difficulty breathing, anorexia, repeated swallowing, profuse salivation, watering of the eyes and nose, cardiac distress, incoordination, depression, vomiting, frequent defecation, weakness, convulsions, paralysis, coma, and eventually death. Autopsy will show gastrointestinal irritation and hemorrhage." Okaaay, so we won't be harvesting any of that if the veggie patch fails this year... Check it out, from bud to bloom below.

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