The first signs of Autumn at Kew

This morning was the first Saturday in 3 that I've had the chance to go to Kew... it was damp and grey but with odd glimpses of blue sky when I set out... but soon brightened up.  How I wished I had had my sunglasses..

 started in the Princess of Wales glasshouse again today, where I finally bumped into Elisa who is responsible for the fabulous tropical displays in spring. I've been following her on twitter for some time, but never met her until today.  She was busy watering,

 that's her in the background, lol!

the air plants look great right now

 and some big fruit of something or other!

 outside, into the Order Beds, where there were a group who were obviously doing a photography course.

Love these seed heads

 and these ladybird like poppies!

 lots of fruit and veg in the beds from the Kew on a Plate series

 Euphorbia

 yellow/white Red Hot Pokers, lol!

cyclamen

 the sun was shining brightly now, so I headed for my favourite spot!

 still lots of colour in the Parterre bed outside the Palm House, though less red now than last time, 3 weeks ago.

 Inside the Palm House, big leaves turned translucent by the sun

 Michaelmas Daisies, love them!

 more seed heads

 and pretty flower middles

 The trees are starting to turn - I reckon with all the rain we've had and the spells of hot weather, we could be in for a great Autumn display.. watch this space!

 this is a Chinese Nettle tree apparently!

 I was walking in a really random direction this time, not the usual route I take, so I came across things at different times to normal.

Love how the zoom foreshortens the distance between the Henry Moore and the trees behind, it's in quite a large clearing, but I wanted to get some shots of the trees through her holes (as it were!!)

 so took lots!

from the sculpture, it's but a hop skip and jump to the lake and the Sackler Crossing with it's wavy shape

 lots of ducks sunbathing

 glimpses of autumnal colour in the distance, led me across the bridge...

 past the swan preening

alongside the lake towards this

 past giant Redwoods - this one shooting upwards to the top... on and on it went!










yes, it's red!

 have never walked right up to the end before

 never seen a heron before either! there's obviously fish in the lake!

from the lake I went towards the woody area where in spring I go for the bluebells...
love this fluff!

the light was gorgeous

 Queen Charlotte's cottage - open, today, never seen it open before - you only see a couple of rooms, but it was great to be there at the right time, it's not open for long.

 loads of berries on the Rowan trees

and these are  Malus Yunnanensis.. and yes I photographed the label to remember!
Never heard of it, but they look like tiny apples, don't they!

the vines are turning, these are climbers around one of the restuarants

 some years ago, I got a great shot of this (it's my FB profile photo), in full sun and full autumnal colour, shown in the reflection in the windows... never yet recreated it successfully..
this one's not bad - but  maybe next time.

 no idea what this tree was, these berry things were really high up

 leaves trailing round the main visitor centre roof

 outside the Palm House (gone in a huge circle!)

 the waterlilies are still splendid!

 ominous clouds over the Palm House.. but they scurried off and left the sun behind

 the Rose Garden still looks great and smells better  - wish you could get the scent!

 Kew is right under the flight path to Heathrow.. jets go overhead constantly!


I was starving by now (it was gone 1pm) and didn't fancy any of the sandwich varieties today, so headed home...

back across Kew Bridge to the station.. lots of people standing watching the river... and all these boats kept rowing past.. apparently it's the Great River Race today.. about 300 boats taking part, great timing on my part!

thanks for making it to the end, hope you enjoyed today's trip as much as I did!