Saturday, March 18, 2017

Magnolias and Daffodils

Earlier this week, there was a tweet from the Kew Gardens twitter account alerting me (well not only me obviously!) to the magnolias that were flowering well....
The day dawned dull after rain over night but luckily it stayed away for my trip..

 They weren't wrong...  there are magnolias throughout the gardens, but the main group are in a little grove like area in the arboretum.  they always look gorgeous..
 there are also younger, prunus trees planted round too, this one was staggering (variety called Collingwood Ingram)
 and lots of sunny daffodils...
 forsythia
close up of the blooms

 from further away...

 zooming in...


 more close ups!



 Palm House framed behind the forsythia


 like this one, with the huge tree in soft focus behind the close ups
underplanting with daffodils
Colour from  the rhododendron glade beckoned
 and hellebores

 the glory of the snow has come from nowhere in the two weeks since I was here before
this magnolia was gorgeous - a beautiful scent (Royal Star)
 chaenomeles (flowering quince) , vibrant scarlet

 Headed up to the Hive... not many people around so did a lying on the floor shot for the first time in months...
 view from halfway up the steps to the Hive
 view up from the middle tier
 and down..
 bright citrus green...
 I was amused to see the figures from the rickshaws from the orchid festival have been placed outside the princess of wales glasshouse to enjoy the "sun" - love how they look as if they're watching us go by!














in the rock garden, always loved these pasque flowers (pulsatilla)

 this peacock was taking a rest in front of the matching bulbs in the bed behind him!


view of the Palm House through another magnolia
 this is always one of my favourite spring trees at Kew, looking at it's peak today, I think.
especially this shot!


you should be able to pick out yellow and white in front of the Palm House...
 this is what awaits....
 beautiful!
there was some kind of photo shoot going on behind the Palm House, looked like some kind of Japanese fashion shoot or something... I pretended to be photographing this bright pink prunus...















but really I was nosing at this...
 it amused me to see she was wearing long black trousers and boots under this finery against the cold/damp ground!


 after coffee, I went and had a closer look at the Palm House Parterre and the daffodils... the end beds at each end of this are going to be tulips, they are coming into leaf now so it won't be long...
but I put the wide angle on
 to get them all in...

the beds are planted with succession planting, so there is lots more to come after the daffodils finish... can't wait to see what!
by now it was lunchtime and I had a longer than normal journey home (replacement buses on my normal route so I was going the three rather than two train way which takes longer)  so I headed home, past these huge tubs of daffodils at the exit that I hadn't stopped to look at on the way in 2 and a half hours earlier...

hope you enjoyed today's trip!

8 comments:

sam21ski said...

Great photos, lovely colours, spring is definitely on the way xx

Little Arty Journeys said...

Fabulous! Love all the different shades of pink there are at the moment.

Kirsten said...

Such wonderful photos, thank you so much for sharing them. Funnily enough, I was thinking about you only this morning, wondering if you were planning a Kew visit. :-)

Bleubeard and Elizabeth said...

Wow, oh wow. The magnolias are gorgeous and their pink flowers are so delicate looking. The close ups are stunning and I can just imagine you getting up close in order to capture the beauty of the blossoms. I've never seen white ones, though. They pair nicely with the daffodils.

Speaking of daffodils, they are gorgeous near the Palm House, where the gardens are now so colorful after not seeing much color for a few months. The daffs put on a show there, and I know the tulips will be equally gorgeous when they arrive.

I used to have a forsythia where I lived before (in a different state), and their blooms always signaled that spring had arrived.

Like you, I thought it was great to see the orchid show "people" have found a place in the gardens.

Looks like a photo shoot was in progress and you captured it nicely, too. It's a great place for one, that's for sure.

The views of the hive were wonderful. So glad you had time to photograph the area again.

I was in AWE of the peacock. Never seen one sitting before. Great shots. Thanks for taking me with you to Kew and seeing the beauty of the early spring flowers and the magnolia blossoms.

snazzyoriginal said...

Thank you for sharing such a stunning slice of Spring, love magnolias but have never managed to grow one x

Sally H said...

Thanks for taking me on a stunning spring stroll around Kew, Helen! Beautiful photos! We are somewhat behind in the magnolia season here, although the Daffs are coming out, the magnolia is still in bud.

craftimamma said...

Lovely, lovely trip you took us on Helen. Those magnolia are so beautiful and so many varieties. I had one of the star variety at one time but it died sadly! Love the cheery daffies but tbh I can't wait to see the tulips through your lens again this year. I adore tulips.

Thanks for wearing out your shoe leather on our behalf once again.

Hugs
Lesley Xx

Felix the Crafty Cat said...

Gorgeous Helen, thanks for sharing your lovely day with us.
Big hugs, Angela xXx