Magnolias in flower at Kew

I follow Kew Gardens on Twitter and saw a link to their Flikr group during the week - when it was all blue skies and sunny - that the magolias are blooming - so decided to go yesterday. Natch, it was much less sunny (like it rained a bit) and the skies weren't blue - but the magnolias WERE flowering! 

Am having a few problems with my SLR 35mm camera so think I may upgrade soon to a digital one....
Anyhow, it wasn't particularly cold and the trees were pretty!

This is a blue carpet - Glory of the Snow it's called - I can't remember, spell or pronounce the Latin name!

I did what I have often longed to - knelt as low down on the path as I could - practically lying -  luckily it was still dry here! to get a bird's eye view.

This would have looked so much better with a bright blue sky behind it (or photo shop on my pc!)

I did get a bit carried away, this is just a few of the frames I shot!

 I missed the best of this tree last year!

And when I went into the Princess of Wales glasshouse to escape the shower, this little fellow was out enjoying the steamy atmosphere.