Kudzu Quest Location

[Bob Carnie]

Hello Folks

I want to photograph Kudzu and I am going to be in Atlanta and SC on business in early to mid August.
I plan to tag on an extra couple of days to do this. I will want to get back to Toronto preferrably via Charlotte NC.

I will not be driving but plan to bus or train it around. So it is very important that I can reach the location by bus from SC and get to Charlotte to catch my flight.

I would like a location within two hours bus ride from Charlotte where I can easily get to a large location of this plant. {remember I am not driving so a cab or local transit is how I want to get to the location}
I would require modest hotel/motel accomodation to hunker down for a couple of days.
As it is going to be so unbelievably hot , more than my fat ass has ever experience being that I am emerging from an Igloo here in the Canadian far north , a decent watering hole and food emporium would be nice close to the man cave.
I am not crazy , I have been on this Quest for a couple of years now .. I traveled through NC to Sandy Kings house once and had an vision during a tremendous thunderstorm. Turned out it was this Kudzu and I must capture it on film.

any help in locations that fit the criteria above would be welcome... I do not want to camp as I am coming off a course in Atlanta which forces me to wear my big boy business clothes.

 

[Terry Christian]

If you're looking for kudzu, anywhere here in the South would do. I live in Memphis, TN, and grew up just a few miles away in eastern Arkansas. I could show you kudzu there the likes of which you've never seen. Look for it on the sides of rural roads, especially where there are support structures for it, like trees, low-hanging power lines, or abandoned houses, barns, or silos. Good luck!

 

[Bob Carnie]

Tuckertown North Carolina - just by looking at the satelitte photos there is a lot of green around the dam... any one here know this area. looks like a possible location to me. Yes/No?

 

[LarryP]

Kudzu the demon vine

Bob if I recall you'll be in the Greenville SC area as well as Atlanta and Charlotte. Anywhere outside of Atlanta towards greenville or Augusta ;Travelers rest grey court outside of Greenvile or south of charlotte on 77 towards Columbia SC. are loaded with the demon vine. Public transportation is likely to be a problem it's not one of the souths strong suites. I'd consider renting a car for a day or two in any of the major cities to get out where you'll get the best shots of kudzu. And as far as the summer heat it's the price we pay for our winters.

 

[Bob Carnie]

What do you think about Uwharrie National Forest in NC ... lots of hiking trails and places to stay listed .. anyone familiar with this location.?

 

[LarryP]

Bob I have not been in that area in a few years but doubt there is much in the way of kudzu there. The main reason being it just gets too cold in winter, kudzu is native to the african savanna and highly drought resistant. The reason it became so prolific here is mild winters hot summers with lots of rain. With normal rainfall in the south kudzu will grow up to a foot a day. It seems to do best in the midlands and coastal regions and some up in the foothills.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Hi Larry
Well it was in NC just north of SC where I had these terrible visions.
Bob

Bob I have not been in that area in a few years but doubt there is much in the way of kudzu there. The main reason being it just gets too cold in winter, kudzu is native to the african savanna and highly drought resistant. The reason it became so prolific here is mild winters hot summers with lots of rain. With normal rainfall in the south kudzu will grow up to a foot a day. It seems to do best in the midlands and coastal regions and some up in the foothills.

 

[LarryP]

kind of an edit here. Turns out I had the origins of kudzu wrong ,it's originally japanese, not sure why I thought it came from the african plains.

 

[holmburgers]

My family took a trip from Atlanta back to Kansas when my brother went to school down there. We took historic Highway 61; a very interesting drive for sure, and tons of kudzu. Sounds like a neat project Bob... but I can only imagine exactly what it is you're up to!

 

[cowanw]

Some of the scenes in the movie "Lawless" feature settings in Kudzu infested areas. I am wondering if Virginia was infested like this, in 1931.

 

[Bob Carnie]

Got some locations in SC and NC to go too, Sandy K and Sam W were kind enough to show me around..
If it wasn't for having the lens cap on one day , I would have more images.

OTE=cowanw;1391400]Some of the scenes in the movie "Lawless" feature settings in Kudzu infested areas. I am wondering if Virginia was infested like this, in 1931.[/QUOTE]

 

[Dan Henderson]

Even though "Lawless" was set in Franklin County, Virginia (just south of me), it was filmed in, I think, Georgia. Kudzu is pretty thick in certain areas around here, but it looks to me like it mostly likes to grow on trees. I seem to notice it growing on them at the edges of a woods where it can get lots of light. I have yet to find a building that is overgrown with kudzu.

 

[Steve Mack]

Summer or winter (if it snows), you can get some very interesting shots of Kudzudu Beasties. You just have to look and use your imagination. Almost anywhere in the South (United States) has kudzu. I've heard that a small tactical nuke could eradicate it in limited areas, but...

With best regards.

Stephen

 

[Gerald C Koch]

Summer or winter (if it snows), you can get some very interesting shots of Kudzudu Beasties. You just have to look and use your imagination. Almost anywhere in the South (United States) has kudzu. I've heard that a small tactical nuke could eradicate it in limited areas, but...

With best regards.

Stephen

It's funny the Kudzu plant is considered to be very useful in Japan. I believe it was deliberately brought to this country for use as a ground cover. It has no natural enemies in this country so it flourished beyond any one's imagination. All parts of the plant are edible and are very high in anti-oxidants. The young leaves can be used to make a tea and the root medicine. The flowers smell like grapes and can be used to make jelly. The tendrils can be used to make baskets.

 

[Alan Klein]

There's Kudzu up here where I live in NY. Growing on the Hutchinson River Pkway just north of the Bronx, NYC and a lot of other places north of here. Snow doesn't seem to bother it.