Walk Across Kentucky from your couch

Walk Across Kentucky at The Arboretum, State Botanical Garden of Kentucky, is an 80-acre collection of native plants that represent the seven different geographic regions of the state. The trail illustrates the state’s great diversity in flora from plants that thrive in the Mississippi Embayment wetlands to those that can be found in the upper reaches of the Appalachian Plateau, also known as the Eastern Coalfields. The Shawnee Hills, Pennyrile, Knobs, Cumberland Mountain and the Bluegrass regions are also represented.

The wildflower meadow in the Shawnee Hills Collection of the Walk Across Kentucky at The Arboretum in Lexington. Photo provided by Emily Ellingson

Showing the bark of Quercus rubra, the northern red oak. The tree can be found on the Walk Across Kentucky at The Arboretum. Photo provided by Emily Ellingson

Ephemeral bed in the Shawnee Hills region of the Walk Across Kentucky

Hypericum prolificum, or shrubby St. John's Wort

Prunus in flower in the Mississippi Embayment region on the Walk Across Kentucky trail at The Arboretum

Magnolia macrophylla, one of the trees to be found on the Walk Across Kentucky at The Arboretum. Photo provided by Emily Ellingson

Eryngium yuccifolium, commonly called rattlesnake-master or button snake-root, and the red-blooming silene regia, commonly called royal catchfly, occur in rocky woods and prairies of Kentucky's Pennyrile region.

Sanguinaria canadensis, commonly called bloodroot, is a native wildflower that blooms in early spring in rich woods and along streams.

The trail meanders through the Bluegrass region of The Walk Across Kentucky at The Arboretum.

The bark of the Quercus alba, white oak. The tree can be found on the Walk Across Kentucky at The Arboretum. Photo provided by Emily Ellingson

Amorpha fruticosa, or false indigo. Native to moist open woodland areas, floodplains, stream banks and swamp margins.

Shawnee Hills meadow on the Walk Across Kentucky trail at The Arboretum

Matelea carolinensis, Carolina milkvine, in the Pennyrile Region of the Walk Across Kentucky

Showing the bark of Quercus bicolor, or the swamp white oak. The tree can be found on the Walk Across Kentucky at The Arboretum. Photo provided by Emily Ellingson

Cornus florida, commonly known as flowering dogwood, blooms in the Knobs Region of the Walk Across Kentucky.

The Knobs prairie meadow on the Walk Across Kentucky Trail at The Arboretum

Phlox divaricata in the Shawnee Hills region on the Walk Across Kentucky trail at The Arboretum

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