Monday, December 29, 2014

Ice anyone? the last trip of the year to Kew

I wasn't working today, so took my last trip of 2014 to Kew - the frost and sun at home made me think there would be some good photos to be had...200 later I think I was right... so here goes!
 I headed for my favourite part of the garden - the lake by the Palm House - and found it partially frozen.

 and the Dogwoods were looking glorious

 the sun was catching the droplets on the fountain and the reflections on the ice were amazing
 almost a sillhouette from the sun through the dogwoods.








 from the lake I walked further into the gardens towards the Henry Moore sculpture past sculptural trees
 where Mother and Child was nestling in the frosty grass



Caught sight of the melting frost drops on the ends of the catkins


 the sun was shining brightly through the grasses and shrubs at the edge of the next lake

 which was also partly frozen, and more beautiful dogwoods
 onwards to the Treetop walkway, which I think looks fabulous this time of year against the bare branches of the trees
 Kew is directly under the flightpath to Heathrow, as you can see!
 the Pagoda, taken into the sun, almost looks as if it's lost in mist
 and the views from the top of the walkway show just how tall the trees are


 back down on ground level, I walked through the frosty grass to the Temperate House - closed, as you can see, for restoration - it won't re-open till 2018

back round to the lake by the Palm House, where with the shifting sun the dogwoods looked even better
 and the ducks and gulls were still skating on the ice!
 beautiful reflections





 from the lake I walked through the woodland garden to the Princess of Wales glasshouse to warm up before heading home - love the funghi on this log
 taken into the sun for a sillhouette, the waterlily pond in the POW glasshouse
 and outside, the leaves had frozen into the water on the rill running round the POW glasshouse
past the Nash conservatory, to the exit and my way home.


8 comments:

Kyla said...

Oh the dog woods are stunning. I love the tree top walk and pagoda best of all at Kew. Stunning photos as usual Helen

sam21ski said...

Fantastic photos again Helen, beautiful colours especially the one with the rainbow of autumn colours over the lake
xxx

Artmadnana said...

Oh Helen these are beautiful and bring back such lovely memories of Kew for me. You've captured such beautiful colour in the foliage and such a variation of line and structure in the various features. You are so talented. You need an exhibition!

Hazel Agnew said...

Loved following you around Kew Helen. I, too love the colours of the dogwoods. Thankyou for sharing! Xx

Lesley Edmonds said...

Perfect!

Julia Dunnit said...

You should be paid for promoting Kew! I love every pic....the dogwoods are stunning aren't they...more warming than the sunshine!

Kirsten said...

Fantastic photos Helen! The dogwoods look amazing, I'd love a few in my garden. Thank you for sharing all your Kew visits with us this year.

Unknown said...

I love the dogwoods on the bank. How lucky you are to live so close to Kew gardens. Haven't been out with my camera much lately, but off skiing to Austria next week so loads of photo opportunities there!
have a great week
Lynda B (Sparks of Art)