Rhododendrons, Lady Bird Johnson Redwood Grove

Rhododendron Blooms and Coast Redwood Trees (Sequoia sempervirens) at Lady Bird Johnson Grove, Redwood National Park, California

The rhododendron blooms at the Lady Bird Johnson grove were amazing. I photographed this near the end of the short blooming season but even then they were impressive. The whole trail wasn't lined with wildflowers but in the patches where there were, it was massive. I'd previously seen a rhododendron bloom at Kruse Rhododendron State Park, which is along the Sonoma Coast, but that paled in comparison.

I have to thank photographer, Gary Crabbe for saving me a lot of driving around, as he told me the day before that he'd been to all the other regular hotspots in the weeks prior but Lady Bird Johnson was one of few that actually had a good bloom this year.

Unfortunately there was no fog so getting good exposures was pretty tough. I think this was my best attempt. To give you an idea for how tall these plants are, my camera was pointing upwards at the rhododendrons while I was standing on top of a fallen redwood tree trunk. And from the previous blog post, you can see how big those are.