After visiting the Stowe Botanical we had fallen in love with gardens and were trying to visit any we could find. The Arboretum on the University of Kentucky campus in Lexington is the State Botanical Garden. It's free, focused more on education that popularity, and rather nice in a subdued way as long as you don't try to visit on football Saturday.
While it was hot, dry, sunny, and dusty the bees were still working hard. I was attracted by the unusual shape of this flower which has a convoluted shape reminding me more of a variety of shelf fungus than a flower. The blossoms were also attracting a wide variety of butterflies and I wanted them all.
The roses here in the blasting sunlight were doing very well.
Finally here I took the opportunity walking in the woods to cool off to practice my background patterns with the bark of what I think is an old oak tree. I also just liked the pattern of the tree they had cut down laying in the weeds. And I get to finish up by adding another water tower to my collection.