Flowering shrubs put on a springtime show that rivals the display of trees in the fall. Because of the range in elevation from 549 to 6,047 feet, peak blooming occurs at different times and places - somewhat eartlier in Virgina than North Carolina.

Flame azalea is at its best south of Ranoke to Rocky Knob about mid-May and in the high mountains west of Ashville about mid-June. Mountain laurel blooms along Otter Creek in mid-May and elsewhere on the Parkway in the first two weeks of June. Dense thickets of catawba rhododendron turn purple north of Peaks of Otter to Onion Mountain and along the bluffs of Doughton Park the first week of June and in Craggy Gardens and through the Balsams after mid-June. Various wildflowers begin to bloom in April and continuue into the fall.