Saturday, February 10, 2018

Kew - the Thailand themed Orchid Festival

Today saw the opening of the 2018 Orchid Festival at Kew - this year's theme is Thailand.  Each year they seem to out-do themselves..  As you know, the display has been being installed over the last few weeks so I've seen bits and pieces... today was the grand opening and there was a big queue at the gate for the 10 am opening (despite their best efforts with the rail replacement bus for half of my first train journey I was there in time for that)

I took a swift walk past the Palm House pond (which looked as if it might be part frozen, but wasn't in fact) to head straight for the Princess of Wales glasshouse...
settle back and enjoy... this is a photo heavy post (when aren't they!)


we saw this last week..


 but the pillars in the desert section have been draped with colourful fabric


they've always called them Chinese Water Dragons before...
however!!
 I love it in plant form! 

 I remembered to view the centrepiece from this angle...
lens still a bit misty from the humidity..
 the centrepiece crafted in the middle of the pond, is based on a Palace outside Bangkok






I went up the steps for a view from higher...


 hundreds of orchids frame the pillars
 up on the higher level, the bromelliad area is always festooned with arches... this year they are more spectacular than ever!









 it was hard to keep everybody out of my photos!  but you do see how big the arches are!




 you have to remember to look up as well as down









 a cart filled with orchids

 by the paddy field and "Bruno" the water buffalo...
















 
 love this flower filled boat













another arch - I always love the ones they mix with airplants




close up of the "ceiling" of the arch




 back through the door to the desert area, a little bridge

 live music was playing that you could hear throughout the glasshouse,















provided by

 heading back through to the other exit,


more parasols and lanterns


 love the reflection
 outside, for weekends only during the Festival, a pop up street market stall...
 serving food and cocktails... only at lunchtimes, though so I was too early!
 I decided to head for my own refreshments

(coffee and a piece of sticky toffee pudding...yum yum)


 before paying another visit to Life in Death.

took some shots up into the ceiling this time...
























 this one reminds me of a piece of tapestry
 outside, the drifts of crocus are spreading
 walked under a tree, this rotting pine cone caught my eye
 clumps of daffodils in the grass - the blooms starting to emerge
 walking round the side of the Palm House on my way home I climbed a grass bank to take a shot over this tub....

(not one of the ones on the edge of the pond, they are still empty   -  well, unplanted, they are full of frozen scummy bird pooey water!)
 these have the same primulas in that are in the beds in front of the Palm House

 at the foot of the wildflower meadow in front of the Hive, I spied yellow....

went for a closer look at the crocus...



they were on quite a slope....



crouched down to take this close up.... and when trying to stand up promptly fell back on my bum! 

luckily there wasn't so much rain to make the ground really wet, but I did get a bit muddy!



Headed for my torturous journey home .... next time I go I hope the trains will run! 



Thanks for looking! 



7 comments:

craftimamma said...

Wow, Helen the orchids are absolutely breathtaking! What an amazing display and I can't done a favourite....they all are! The crocus are so pretty and just what we need in this dreary weather. Your whole post is a very welcome splash of colour today. Thank you.....you go above and beyond to bring us these fab photos .....including getting a muddy bum, lol!

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

AH, I've been waiting for the unveiling of this event, even though you have shared some lovely previews with us.

OMGosh, that Palace is simply over the top. It is both opulent and elegant. They did a fabulous job.

The orchid filled cart is stunning. I'm sure you liked it because of the lovely pinks and purples. And I was quite impressed to see that the water buffalo has a name. Kudos to Bruno.

The boat reminds me of those I saw in pictures when I was looking for images of Vietnam and Thailand. Of course, those boats didn't contain the fabulous orchids, like the one at Kew.

Had to laugh at the beautiful urn and the one that showed the empty ones ("full of frozen scummy bird pooey water") around the pond.

So glad you endured the tortures of your trip to and from Kew, because I for one, really LOVED the beauty of this show. Thanks, thanks, thanks for sharing these awesome photos.

Little Arty Journeys said...

WOW! Amazing. Thank you for sharing your visit with us.

margaret said...

Great pics Helen really excited about my visit on Thursday

Sarah B said...

Wow thank you for sharing such stunning pictures. I lovr orchids, this makes my 8 little plants look a bit inadequate 😜
Really nice to see the spring flowers making an appearance too xx

Miriam said...

Those orchid displays are spectacular. Such gorgeous photos. Definitely worth risking the train delays. Thanks for sharing the beauty again.

Kirsten said...

The orchid displays are stunning!!!