Saturday, July 22, 2017

Another early visit to Kew

After being otherwise engaged the previous two Saturdays; today was back to Kew for my regular summertime 8am start.
I start at the corner of the Parterre.. in full mid summer colour - silvery leaf (forgotten the name) bright yellow Begonias (variety - Nonstop Yellow, appropriately) and orange Dahlias.
 the fountain was in full sparkling sun from the front of the Parterre today so took my favourite fountain shots from there as I walked round


circular bed at the head of the Broad Walk (or foot, I guess if you're walking the way I was)
 we had had a lot of very heavy rain overnight, so the plants were at 8am, still covered in raindrops... making for gorgeous photos!




I may have got carried away with the number I took... I will prune them down for you!

 love this tiger lily!
 the drops look as if they are about to fall, but didn't


 the drooping dancing skirts of the coneflowers (echinacea)


 this is one of my favourite shots from today, the drifts of pinky purple and silver.




despite the overnight rain there was obviously plenty of pollen for the bees and hoverflies who were out in their masses... they would keep flying off though!




 the light was brilliant on these grasses but I had to snatch my turn as another photographer was taking ages with hers!  in fact later on I saw her still on the Broad Walk!


 the blue love in a mist must be a second flush of blooms in amongst the earlier seed heads

 close up of the boot of The Sower,  was somewhat surprised to feel it is smooth to the touch, it looks as if it should be rough!
 more raindrops on the Hemerocalis (daylily)
 and Agapanthas
 bee disappearing inside the flower
 blue sky and cloud reflecting in the outdoor waterlily pond




 have always loved these, Aeonium Arboreum 'Atropurpureum' - back in the day when I was married we had one of the first of these to be imported to the UK, it was thought they wouldn't survive here - we had it as a houseplant then.
 back at the Palm House

 wildflowers in the meadow at the Hive...



bedding outside the Princess of Wales glasshouse.


10am now, waiting to go inside (they open the glasshouses when the main gates open, not early for members)
because, they have their Giant Titan Arum flowering again...
in fact, they have 4 in various stages of flowering...


 you don't get the "big stink" until the spathe opens when it attracts the flies for pollination (or as they do at Kew, manually!)


 back on the Broad Walk,
 Allium seedheads, structural against the pink coneflowers...
 still love them, even as they fade!













big fat bumble bee feasting, as I headed for home


glad I left when I did as not five minutes after getting in, it started raining,and we've had a steady series of heavy showers all afternoon (as forecast!)


Hope you enjoyed your walk in the sun!

2 comments:

craftimamma said...

What a fabulous feast of photos Helen. So many that I love this time but I think my top picks this visit are the love on a mist mixed with the seed pods, the water speckled day lily and my personal favourite statue, The Sower! I do wish I'd been walking with you.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

I absolutely adore your opening photo each time you visit Kew. It shows what's new, what's been replaced, and what's growing strong. BTW, I can only GUESS why you would have been otherwise engaged last week!

The Broad Walk was quite empty and I bet that pleased you. Seeing the water soaked flowers was fun, too. I know if I'd been there, I'd have taken similar close-ups. The coneflowers/echinacea look like they are on their last legs (or skirts).

The blue love in a mist were gorgeous mixed in with the seed pods. I can see why you were drawn to the agapanthas. The Aeonium is beautiful and looks like your favorite color, too. I really enjoyed the back story.

The boot on the Sower really does appear to be rough, but you captured it well. Although it looks rough on top, the edge is quite smooth. Photos are often deceiving.

The Giant Titan Arum really surprised me that Kew provided all four stages. AND that they collect flies to feed the plant manually. Who knew?

The coneflowers/echinacea look much younger on the Broad. Maybe it was the rain that had caused them to shrivel in the first photos.

Thanks beyond belief for sharing these beauties with us on this latest trip to Kew. I loved every photo, and enlarged them, as I always do.