Author: pat frederick

Weird Wednesdays: The Cedar Peak Treehouse, Washington

Have you ever wanted to stay in a treehouse?  If you visit Washington, you may have a chance!

I found this article, written by Melissa, who visits and photographs her journeys on her site called Miss Rover.

Where is Cedar Falls Treehouse in Washington?

Cedar Falls Tree House sits on a lovely property named Cozy Acres. This beautiful spot of old growth forest is just outside of North Bend, Washington about 30 minutes East of Seattle. This Washington Treehouse is a very convenient getaway from the city.

Treehouse Details:

2 guests, 1 bed

No Pets

Kitchenette

Composting Toilet

Outdoor Shower

Note: the bed is in a loft with a secured ladder. It was moderately easy to get in and out of the loft space for me.

Amenities

Large Picture Windows

Wrap around deck

Firepit on deck

Outdoor Shower

WIFI

Projector and 100″ screen

Speaker for music

Cooking at the Treehouse

The treehouse provides a small kitchenette with a mini fridge, microwave and Keurig. Outside on the deck, there is a grill and camp stove included with all the basic cooking utensils provided.

We cooked the first night we were there, grilling kababs with a delicious jalapeno sauce.

The Bathroom

I know some people are very particular about bathrooms when staying at more rustic places! This bathroom is small, but very clean with a composting toilet. This specific composting toilet was wonderful. Sometimes they can have really strange/bad odors and this one smelled fantastic, like cedar.

Instructions are provided on how to use the toilet.

The shower is an outdoor shower below the treehouse. Hot water is available through a propane system that was really easy to use. The water heated up really fast and it felt very private and was really a peaceful, luxurious experience for me.

Prices of this Washington Treehouse

As of July 2022, the price to book Cedar Falls Treehouse on Cozy Acres is $290 per night. Also note a 2-night minimum is required(and worth it). This price is without the added cleaning fees and service fee that can vary.

SOURCE: MISS ROVER.com

DIY: 21 Uses for All Kinds of Plastic Jugs: Part 2

Continuing from FAMILY HANDYMAN:

Laundry Detergent Twine Dispenser

Prevent balls of twine from tangling up by making a twine dispenser from an empty plastic detergent jug. Cut the bottom off the jug and drill a hole in the cap. Screw the jug to your shop wall with the spout facing down. Drop the ball of twine into the jug, thread it through the hole and screw the cap on. — Paul Chupek

Furniture Stripping Helper

When stripping old paint or varnish, how do you get rid of the stuff once it’s on your putty knife? Cut a semi-circular opening in the side of an empty gallon jug, then clean the loaded scraper on the flat edge of the hole. When you’re done, and you want to reuse some of the stripper, upend the jug and use the neck of the jug as a funnel to pour the stripper into another container.

Plastic Bag Dispenser

To make it easy to stow and reuse plastic bags, make a dispenser from a discarded 2-liter soda bottle. Cut off the top and bottom with a razor knife. Trim any jagged edges so you don’t tear the bags when you pull them out, then screw the dispenser to a cabinet door or closet wall (or attach with hook-and-loop tape).

Water Bottle Nail Pouch

Make a nail holder from a plastic beverage bottle. Cut the top off an empty bottle, leaving a 3-1/2 in. tall container. File off any sharp edges or cover them with tape. Cut two 1-1/2 in. vertical slits 1 in. apart in the center of the side. Slide the end of your belt through the slots for a homemade nail pouch. — R. B. Hines.

Laundry Jug Watering Can

Instead of throwing away empty laundry detergent containers, rinse them out thoroughly and then recycle them for watering plants. Drill 1/8-in. holes in the top of the cap, and a 1/2-in. hole just above the handle to relieve pressure so the water flows freely.

Out with the Mustard, In with the Glue

I no longer put up with the messy “over-designed” carpenter’s glue dispensers. Instead, I use old mustard bottles; they don’t clog and they easily reseal between uses. — reader Richard Painter

Plastic Jug Planters

Those plastic milk jugs can be cut and used as planters. Try hanging them from a fence with wire coat hangers, as shown here.

Better Bucket Storage

Stacked 5-gallon buckets fit together so tightly that it’s almost impossible to pull them apart. Prevent the problem by placing a large plastic pop bottle (with top on) or milk jug between each pair of buckets. You can still nest the buckets together, but they won’t stick together anymore.

Better Glue Bottle Cap

Screw the flip-up, 1-in. inner dia. cap from your shampoo or liquid cleanser bottle onto your glue bottle. The 1-in. cap fits on every glue bottle we tried. Now:

You can’t lose the little cap.

Glue stays fresher because the cap snaps shut.

The cap’s small round hole makes it easier to control the size of the glue bead.

Glue doesn’t harden in the cap and require clearing before use. — reader Dorothy Nanchu

Instant Tool Holder

Store chisels, files, large drill bits, screwdrivers and other long tools so they’re both visible and close at hand. Simply cut off the top from a clear 2-liter plastic soft drink bottle, leaving a flap for hanging. Use smaller bottles, which are extremely common household items for smaller tools.

SOURCE: FAMILY HANDYMAN: Jenny Stanley Updated: Dec. 01, 2023

DIY: 21 Uses for All Kinds of Plastic Jugs: Part 1

I found this article on Family Handyman that details some helpful and amazing uses for those plastic bottles you might have.

From Family Handyman:

Give those otherwise useless plastic jugs and bottles new life in your home or workshop. And the best part, these super-resourceful ideas don’t cost a thing!

Make a Paint Tray with a Handle

For small paint jobs, I find that a 4-in. paint roller works great with an old gallon-size iced tea jug serving as a disposable roller tray. I just cut out part of the plastic to create a place to dip the roller. It even has a built-in carrying handle. When I’m done, I just throw the empty gallon jug away. — reader Fred Thies.

Simple Skinny Funnel

If you’re in need an easy to make disposable funnel, we have the perfect solution for you.

Simply cut off the handle from a gallon water (or milk) jug, and use this to serve as a disposable funnel. This funnel will help you to drain anything from your left over wood glue to the old oil in your leaf blower. This handle funnel will help you get to hard to reach places and small bottle openings. When using this funnel to drain old oil, it directs the oil to the drain pan without spilling a drop. It’s also smart to use this disposable funnel for messy projects because you can just throw it away once you are done. It’s so simple and effective!

Soda-Bottle Bee Trap

My husband stumbled on this cheap, effective bee and wasp trap. (Never thought I’d be glad he drinks soda all the time.) Cut the upper one-third off the top of a 2-liter plastic soda bottle with a utility knife. Pour a few ounces of soda pop into the bottom, then invert the top of the bottle and nest it inside the bottom part. Bees and wasps are attracted to the sweet smell and find their way through the bottleneck but can’t find their way out. Eventually they get exhausted, fall into the water and drown. — reader J. Chamberlain

Tangle-Free Twine Storage

Can’t find your twine to bundle that pile of recyclables? Try reader Norm Hoch’s slick solution. Cut the bottom 4 in. off a 1/2-gallon plastic milk or orange juice jug and load the container with a fresh spool of twine that unwinds from the middle. Then thread the twine through the jug opening and tape the jug back together. Cut an “X” in the cap with a utility knife to keep the twine from falling back into the jug.

Portable Storage for Free

You can drop a few bills buying storage totes for supplies like nails, screws and plumbing parts. Or you can make your own with laundry detergent jugs and a utility knife. They’re big, tough and mobile—and they’ll make your workshop stink nice.

Touch-Up Bottle

When there’s only a little bit of latex paint left in the can and I want to save it for touch-ups, I put a half-dozen marbles in an empty water bottle and pour in the leftover paint. When I’m ready to do a touch-up, I shake the bottle and the marbles mix the paint. A roll of tape with a rag draped over it helps hold the bottle steady while I pour the paint into it. Just be sure to use a funnel or you’ll have a mess on your hands. — reader Ron Hazelton

Protect Sprouting Plants

If you cut an empty gallon jug (like a classic plastic milk jug) about two-thirds down the bottom, you can create an effective enclosure to protect planted seeds and new shoots from birds and rodents, which is faster and more effective than trying to use sprays and traps. For busy gardens, get a marker and write the name of the plant on the jug so you know what’s growing beneath without needing to check your seed packets: Remember to eventually take the jugs off as shoots develop to avoid mold. 

Oil Bottle Hardware Storage

Here’s a fun little project to keep your screws, nails, nuts and electrical whatsits handy and neatly organized.

Pet Food Scoop

I’ve read many hints that advise the reader to cut off the tops of gallon-size plastic jugs and use them for funnels. I’ve found that if you replace the cap after cutting the top off, you can use the top for a scoop for handling potting soil, fertilizer or pet food. The no-scratch plastic also makes the jug/scoop ideal for bailing water out of your boat. — reader Ray Dean

For this scoop, we used an empty half-gallon milk jug and angled the cut so that the side opposite the handle is slightly longer, more like a scoop than a funnel. However, as Ray notes above, this scoop can also be used as a funnel by simply removing the milk jug cap. It helps to draw the cut line with a marker first, and then clean up any sharp or rough edges with the scissors after the initial cut.

Dish Soap Glue Bottle

Reuse an empty dish soap container as a refillable glue bottle. The small size and screw-on top with attached cap are perfect for squeezing out wood glue. Be sure to rinse the inside of the container thoroughly (including the lid) and let it dry completely before filling it with glue.

Milk Jug Furniture Movers

When you have to move heavy furniture on carpeting, don’t just drag it around. That’s hard on carpet and you might damage the furniture legs. Make the job easier with these homemade moving pads. Cut the bottoms off four plastic water or milk jugs with a utility knife and rest each furniture leg on its own slider. The rounded, slippery bottoms make them perfect for furniture moving. Yes, you can buy fancier versions of these things—for 15 bucks or more! But these work just as well, and best of all, they’re free!

Tomorrow: PART 2

SOURCE: FAMILY HANDYMAN: Jenny Stanley Updated: Dec. 01, 2023

Dragon Fruit

Dragon fruit is a tropical fruit that’s low in calories and high in fiber and antioxidants. Some people say it tastes like a cross between a pear and a kiwi. You can slice and eat the fruit as-is, try it with yogurt, or add it to a smoothie or salad.

Dragon fruit is a tropical fruit that has become increasingly popular in recent years. Though people primarily enjoy it for its unique look and taste, evidence suggests it may provide health benefits as well. Dragon fruit grows on the Hylocereus cactus, also known as the Honolulu queen, whose flowers only open at night. The plant is native to southern Mexico and Central America. Today, it is grown all over the world.

It goes by many names, including pitaya, pitahaya, and strawberry pear. The two most common types have bright red skin with green scales that resemble a dragon — hence the name. The most widely available variety has white pulp with black seeds, though a less common type with red pulp and black seeds exists as well. Another variety — referred to as yellow dragon fruit — has yellow skin and white pulp with black seeds.

Dragon fruit may look exotic, but its flavors are similar to other fruits. Its taste has been described as a slightly sweet cross between a kiwi and a pear. Animal studies suggest that dragon fruit may provide various health benefits. Many of these are likely due to its fiber and antioxidant content.

Both red and white varieties of dragon fruit have been shown to reduce insulin resistance and fatty liver in obese mice. In one study, mice on a high-fat diet who received an extract of the fruit gained less weight and had reductions in liver fat, insulin resistance, and inflammation, which were attributed in part to beneficial changes in gut bacteria.

Dragon fruit contains prebiotic fiber that promotes the growth of beneficial bacteria in your gut — potentially improving metabolic health.  Although this fruit may improve certain features of metabolic syndrome — a condition associated with type 2 diabetes — not all effects may be favorable.

In a 2014 study in mice on a high-fat, high-carb diet, the group that received dragon fruit juice had better blood sugar responses and reductions in some liver enzyme markers, while another liver enzyme marker significantly increased. In another older study, rats with diabetes treated with an extract from the fruit had a 35% reduction in malondialdehyde, a marker of free-radical damage. They also had less arterial stiffness, compared to the control group.

Study results on the effects of dragon fruit on type 2 diabetes in people are inconsistent, and more research is needed to confirm these beneficial effects.

Though it may look intimidating, dragon fruit is very easy to eat.

Here’s how to eat dragon fruit:

Select a ripe fruit with bright red, evenly colored skin that gives slightly when squeezed.

Use a sharp knife and cut straight through the fruit, slicing it in half.

You can use a spoon to eat the fruit out of the skin or peel the skin off and slice the pulp into small pieces.

Ideas for serving dragon fruit:

Simply slice it up and eat it as is.

Chop it into small pieces and top with Greek yogurt and chopped nuts.

Include it in a salad.

SOURCE: HEALTHLINE

What Shall We Make Today?

This month’s popcorn recipe is Sweet & Salty Popcorn!

Ingredients 

3 tablespoons coconut oil, (or olive oil or vegetable oil)

1/2 cup fresh popcorn kernels

1/4 cup sugar

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions

Place the oil and 3 popcorn kernels in a large, deep Dutch oven or pot with a good fitting lid and set it over medium high heat.

Once all 3 kernels pop, remove them and add the rest of the popcorn kernels as well as the sugar and salt, stirring well to coat. Cover the pot with the lid and allow the kernels to pop, vigorously shaking the pop every 5 to 10 seconds to keep the popcorn evenly distributed and from burning.

When the popping slows, after about 3 minutes, remove the pop from the heat but continue shaking until popping ceases. Immediately pour the popped corn onto a large baking sheet and spread it into an even layer, breaking up clumps as needed. Taste and add salt if desired.

Recipe Tips

Use a pot that is at least 3 quarts. A large stock pot or Dutch oven works great. However, you will be lifting the pot from the stove to shake the kernels, so don’t use a pot with too much weight.

Start with only three kernels. You will know the pot is hot enough to pop the remaining popcorn kernels as soon as the first three pop.

Shake, shake, shake: When the popping slows to 1 to 2 seconds between each pop, lift the pot off of the heat and continue shaking, continuously rotating the kernels as they finish popping.

Allow the popcorn to cool: Quickly spread the sticky popcorn out on sheet pan to cool. Otherwise, the pieces will cool in large clumps.

ENJOY!

Bishop Castle: Rye, Colorado

Ever since 1969, Jim Bishop has singlehandedly constructed Bishop’s Castle, which is the largest self-built palace in the United States — and may be the largest self-built architecture project in the entire world.

There were no blueprints or diagrams for the eccentric Bishop Castle in Rye, Colorado. Built by Jim Bishop over the course of 60 years, the monumental structure is the result of his own imagination and lackadaisical building style. As he told one interviewer, “I just build. I don’t measure.”

Made of high, teetering bridges and stairs, Bishop’s Castle is constructed on top of what once was his one-room cottage using over 1,000 tons of rock from the nearby San Isabel National Forest.

It is also littered with signs that warn visitors not to excessively shake them or they could collapse, as Bishop didn’t believe in building codes.

Nevertheless, people flock from all around to see Bishop’s Castle — and to marvel at its craftsmanship. Indeed, even though some may be wary of its stability, the beauty of the castle stands on its own merit.

Why Jim Bishop Built Bishop Castle

It was 1959 and Jim Bishop was 15 years old when he fell in love with two-and-a-half acres for sale in the mountains outside Pueblo, Colorado. He had enough money saved for the $450 down payment — of the total $1,250 price — from mowing lawns and delivering newspapers. His parents had to sign the paperwork since he wasn’t legally able to buy the land himself.

His dream was to build a family cabin. For the next handful of summers, Bishop and his dad went camping at the site and made building plans. Those plans remained dreams until Bishop married his girlfriend, Phoebe, and decided to begin building them a place to live.

Taking rocks from the surrounding parkland, Bishop set out to construct a simple, one-room cottage. Building season in the mountains is quite short, however, between snowmelt and snowfall. Bishop and his father alternated weeks; one working on the home while the other ran the family’s ironwork business.

There wasn’t any running water at the cottage, so Bishop had to build a 40-foot-tall cistern for the water supply. When he began constructing it from stone as well, it resembled a castle tower. Neighbors noticed and jokingly asked if Bishop was erecting a castle.

The comments sparked his imagination: Why not build a castle?

Bishop’s father thought this sounded like more work than he was willing to do, and with the main cabin finished, gracefully bowed out and let his son go on building to his heart’s content.

Constructing The Eccentric Palace

Working in his family’s iron shop meant Bishop learned how things came together. He chopped down trees and milled them into lumber. He dug 12-foot foundations and created scaffolding and pulley systems as he went.

According to Bishop, he’d dream up some feature he wanted, build it, and when it was finished it’d spark an idea for the next part of the castle.

The ironwork arches on the second floor of Bishop Castle are perhaps one of the palace’s best examples of precision geometry. The support trusses are so large that it’s hard to fathom them being put into place by one man. But they were. All of the castle was built by Bishop alone.

He would say Bishop Castle was “Built by one man with the help of God.”

The facade of the building features a fire-breathing dragon made from recycled warming plates and a donated hot-air balloon warmer. The fireplace cleverly ventilates through the dragon’s nostrils. Stained glass windows decorate the palace’s grand hall.

Bishop Castle kept growing, and more visitors showed up to see it, but Bishop never considered charging them admission to enter. Bishop Castle can still be accessed free of charge.

In fact, Bishop drew up legal documents stating that as long as Bishop Castle stands, no one can ever charge admission. However, he did eventually set up a donation box.

Visiting Bishop Castle

Because of its unwieldiness, the Colorado Chamber of Commerce refused to list the castle as an attraction in their pamphlets. There was already some bad blood between Bishop and the state of Colorado, however, as he technically built his palace with rocks that belonged to a national park.

Additionally, no insurance company wanted to be responsible for the ongoing construction at the code-less “attraction.” After he’s gone, Jim Bishop said that he hopes his kids and grandkids will carry on the traditions of the castle.

Today, the castle is 160 feet tall, and construction has slowed considerably as Bishop has gotten older — but will probably not stop anytime soon. His eldest son, Daniel, handles the upkeep and interacts with the visitors. He put his own business on hold to help his parents as they moved into old age. Sadly, his mother, Phoebe, died in 2018.

The castle is no stranger to sad tales. Bishop and Phoebe lost another son, four-year-old Roy, in a tree-felling accident years earlier. There have been fires that claimed parts of the castle, including a gift shop, but they were always rebuilt.

Bishop still occasionally gets out to talk with tourists. He may be prone to anti-government rants, as is outlined by some of the signs on the property, but he is truly still humbled that people stop by to see his life’s work.  He added memorials to Phoebe and Roy inside and maintains he built the castles for others, not himself.

“Them walls, them buttresses, arches, towers. If there wasn’t somebody to climb on them, be inspired by them, get married up there, and use them, and have fun screamin’, hollerin’ and climbin’, there’d be no point in doing it,” he said. “It would be like the noise in the forest. Did it really happen? Was there a noise? Oh yes, there was, but how can you prove it? Well, the castle’s its own proof.”

SOURCE: allthatsinteresting.com

Below is a link that contains a larger photo gallery of the castle:

https://allthatsinteresting.com/bishop-castle

Painted Bunting

The Painted bunting (Passerina ciris) is a species of bird in the cardinal family, Cardinalidae. It is native to North America. The bright plumage of the male comes only in the second year of life and in the first year, the male can only be distinguished from the female by close inspection. The male is considered by many to be North America’s most beautiful bird, and they are one of the most popular visitors to bird feeders. Due to their attractive appearance and lovely warbling song, Painted buntings often live out their lives as cage birds. Habitat destruction and capture for the pet trade have meant that their numbers have decreased since the mid-1960s.

The male Painted bunting has been nicknamed nonpareil, or “without equal”. Its colors, dark blue head, green back, red rump, and underparts, make it extremely easy to identify, but it can still be difficult to spot since it often skulks in foliage even when it is singing. The plumage of female and juvenile painted buntings is green and yellow-green, serving as camouflage. Once seen, the adult female is still distinctive, since it is a brighter, truer green than other similar songbirds. The juveniles have two inserted molts in their first autumn, each yielding plumage like an adult female. The first starts a few days after fledging, replacing the juvenile plumage with an auxiliary formative plumage; and the second a month or so later giving the formative plumage.

Painted buntings are divided into an eastern and a western population. The eastern population lives only in the coastal regions of northern Florida up to North Carolina. The population in the west ranges from Louisiana and Texas up to Kansas and winters mainly in Mexico and southwards to Panama, while those from the east winter in southern Florida, the Florida Keys being one of these locations, and occasionally in Cuba and the Bahamas. The western population breeds in a habitat consisting of partially open areas with scattered brush, shrubbery, and riparian thickets. The eastern birds choose scrub communities and the edges of maritime hammocks. The winter habitats are similar to each other, being tropical savanna and tropical forest margins.

Painted buntings are social birds. They feed by day hopping along the ground, cautiously stopping every few moments to look around. They are shy, secretive, and often difficult to observe with the human eye, though can be fairly approachable where habituated to bird feeders. The males are frequently heard singing songs that may last 30 seconds or more, being a means of self-advertisement and/or territorial defense during the breeding season when they become highly territorial. They also engage in visual displays including flying bouncingly like a butterfly or in an upright display, body-fluff display, bow display, and wing-quiver display.

Painted buntings are nocturnal migrants, and migrate over short to medium distances. Fall migration starts at the end of July and runs to mid-October, with the spring returning from early April until mid-May. The populations from the west undergo a molt in northern Mexico and southern Arizona (between their breeding and wintering habitats) before arriving at the wintering grounds in the south, in Mexico and Central America. Those from the east molt before migration travel straight to their wintering habitat in southern Florida, Cuba, and the Bahamas. When alarmed, these birds flutter frantically and utter alarm calls.

This species is usually monogamous, though there is some polygyny, with a number of males taking more than one mate. During the breeding season, the birds remain on their own or in pairs. Males arrive first at the breeding habitat, one week before the females, and proceed to select and defend their mating territory. The breeding period, from late March until early August, involves various visual displays such as an upright display, bow display, body-fluff display, and wing-quivering display. The breeding season peaks between mid-May and mid-July. Nests are built in low-lying vegetation by the females, woven into surrounding vegetation for strength. A female raises two broods each season, laying 3 to 4 eggs per brood. Incubation is by the female alone and is for around 11 to 12 days. The mother feeds her altricial chicks with the male occasionally helping. The chicks fledge at 12-14 days and there is further parental care for about 3 more weeks.

The French word ‘nonpareil’, is used for this species. It means “without equal,” and refers to the bird’s splendid plumage.

Males of this species perform displays of short flights with rapidly beating wings. These may show unique flight patterns, like “butterfly flights”, with slow, deep wing beats and undulating flight, and “moth flights”, a slow descending flight with a wing-quivering display.

Painted buntings are one of the most spectacularly colored and visually impressive birds in the United States and are the only U.S. bird with a blue head along with red underparts.

The species name ‘ceris’ is from the Greek myth that tells about Scylla, a princess who was turned into the sea bird keiris.

An American Indian legend tells that when the great spirit gave colors to all the birds, he was running out of dye, so the Painted bunting, being the very last one, received plumage of many colors from dabs of the colors that were left.

SOURCE: ANIMALIA

Delaware State Flower: Peach Blossom

Delaware was the original “Peach State,” because of its orchards; they contained more than 800,000 peach trees, yielding a crop worth thousands at the time!

In 1875, Peach Blossoms could be seen across the gorgeous shoreline of Delaware’s coast. Unfortunately, the peach farmers faced many problems throughout the latter part of the 19th century. The peach disease called “the yellows” forced the untimely collapse of the booming agricultural industry and, in the early 1900s, many peach farmers faced bankruptcy. Today there are very few Peach Blossoms in Delaware, even though the U.S. still emerges as the leading peach grower in the world.

Peach Blossoms bloom as a solitary or paired flower. The Blossom itself is 2.5 to 3 centimeters in diameter and has no more than five petals. They are light pink to light purple in color. The Peach Blossom appears, of course, before the Peach leaves. Quite delicate, the pink Peach Blossoms may be large and showy, but other times are quite small. Peach Blossom trees grow 15-25 feet high and the slender leaves have toothed edges. The regular Peach Blossom tree bears fruit at 3 to 4 years old and reaches its peak after about 12 years.

Connecticut State Flower: Mountain Laurel

At the turn of the 20th century, over 3,000 women urged Connecticut’s state legislature to adopt the beautiful Mountain Laurel as the Connecticut state flower. However, not everyone embraced the idea at first. One senator grumbled that floral emblems were unnecessary. Ultimately though, as supportive lawmakers received sprigs of Mountain Laurel on their desks, it prevailed becoming the state flower of Connecticut in 1907.

As one of the most beautiful flowering plants in America, it’s easy to see why all of those women wanted the Mountain Laurel as the Connecticut state flower. Every year in the months of May and June, the Mountain Laurel bursts with masses of bright tiny blooms. These colorful flowers turn roadsides, wildernesses and suburban yards throughout the state delightful colors of pink, white or red.

The Mountain Laurel grows throughout the eastern half of the U.S., including the southern region of Connecticut. During blossom time, the Mountain Laurel’s beautiful flowers line the roadsides and put on a floral show for drivers along Interstate 95. Clumps of the Connecticut state flower are also prominent along the scenic Merritt Parkway as well as in the northern half of Connecticut.

Each year visitors head to Haystack Mountain State Park in Norfolk to hike amongst the laurel bushes. Hikers can view these beauties under stands of spruce fir or in the open clearings along the trails. In addition to being the state flower of Connecticut, the Mountain Laurel is also the state flower of Pennsylvania where it appears annually in the Appalachian Mountains.

Fun Fact

Almost all of the parts of the mountain laurel are poisonous to wildlife and humans.