FLOWERS & CURIOSITIES AT THE RALEIGH ARBORETUM (Cheri)

In case what's a curiosity to me isn't to you, I've added some beautiful flowers to pull you into this last post about the Raleigh Arboretum!

If we had studied the provided map, we would have expected the very large meadow towards the end of the very large loop at the Arboretum.  As it was, heading out of a smaller area and discovering many of these test gardens was a delightful surprise.

I particularly liked this bed of flowers:

When I attended the national "QuiltCon" show in Raleigh earlier this year, I posted a picture of a miniature bee hotel that has been installed in front of the Convention Center.

Here are a couple of shots of a much larger - and probably more occupied - one at the Arboretum:

and here are some interesting bee facts:

It's hard to overstate how big these flowers were:  maybe 10" across?

Without more explanation, it was difficult to imagine the story behind these two women:

Fund-raising bricks are popular here:

Mark mentioned that my mother would always find the purple flowers; this was the bush that made me think of her:

A single flower that simply made me happy:

Finally, a vista near the end of our tour: