At last the heatwave has broken and this morning was a lot fresher, though still sunny and a little rain (after some yesterday too)
Thanks to South Western Railway striking, I had to go by bus...
they've obviously been watering the grass round the Parterre beds as they are still very green
unlike everywhere else
I walked round the Pond the other direction to normal, the wind was making the water ripple quite strongly
cutting across the grass towards the Broad Walk, there was lots of strips of bark all around - it was very windy yesterday (and still today) and I imagine the heat has had something to do with it stripping the trees too - look how brown the grass is!
huge canna leaves glistening in the early sun
love the orange tiger lily in the middle of the purple
grasses blowing in the wind and shining in the sun!
fabulous agapanthus in front of the echinachea
dancing in the sun!
statuesque red hot pokers
the Hive
echinops, covered in bees
walking up to the Hive, the wildflower meadow has mostly gone over, the wild grasses are brown and blown,
but there's still a lot of whatever this is!!
sat on the glass floor in the Hive
to take some pics
before walking down the side with the steps, where you can see the gone over grasses
the small fountain splashing in the rill outside the Princess of Wales glasshouse
walked round to the family beds
most of the roses on the pergola have finished and been deadheaded, but these few remain
Onions drying in the sun
artichokes
grapes swelling in the heat,
I made the mistake of dipping a finger in the outside waterlily pond to see how cold the water was.. big mistake, it came out covered in green algae slime....
more bee heaven!
the grass garden looking colourful
outside the POW glasshouse
huge jumbos constantly overhead, heading to Heathrow
heading to the cafe now for breakfast
sun glistening on the water
coffee and cake, a perfectly healthy breakfast, yes??
(cardamon and orange blossom honey drizzle - yum! )
then headed for the Temperate House as it was nearly 10
arrived just as they were unlocking the doors
pretty shaped leaves of the perlagoniums
green tree pincushion ( photographing the labels, I don't have that good a memory)
didn't spot this one
walked up the spiral stairs to walk round the top level, can't resist this shot each time, the tree ferns are filling out
I headed for the Pagoda... I wasn't sure if I'd go up again, it was going to depend if there were any timeslots free early on...I certainly won't be doing it every week!
but there was time to enjoy the dragons against the blue sky
before they opened (they only open at 10.30) and there was space on the first climb, so....
as it isn't such a horrendously hot day it was a much easier less sweaty climb up those 253 steps!
the view was rewarding again, although some of the photos seem a bit blurry to me, I think it is due to shooting through the glass,
the guide pointed out several bricks in the walls where initials had been carved by the original builders
view down to the Japanese garden
back down on the ground again
walked up the vista towards the lake
past the little pond
there were loads of dragonflies about, flitting here and there (so many I was worried about treading on them)
I tried to capture some..
I managed to enlarge it to show you, it was a bit small against the ground originally
the lake never disappoints!
ma and pa swan were preening, the kids were snoozing...
came across where they were performing Alice in Wonderland which is being put on for children in the summer holidays.
no, didn't get a ticket and watch...
cloud reflections in the lake
cut back past the Temperate House with the Pagoda behind
walked back down to the Palm House, was intending to sit in the Rose Garden for a while
but after lying on one of the slopes to get some birds eye views
I headed inside the Palm House
for a quick walk round... and out the other side...
they have the same plants in urns at the top of the steps outside the Palm House as they do along the pond... so this is just for Elizabeth
as I came outside and sat on a bench facing the pond, there were loads of birds circling around.....
and around... they did a few circuits before flying off
while I sat for a few minutes...
before walking over to the Waterlily house
I noticed a gourd hanging down almost into the water
lotus flower
around the edge, the dischloth gourd, showing why it gets it's name
turning very dishclothy!
from there, I went across to the Princess of Wales glasshouse,
where as requested for my cousin I photographed the edge of the lily pads
and the water was quite clear so I got a good view of one of the huge fish in the pond...
and the teeny tiny ones!
went for a quick walk round the upper level too
view down to the bottom level
before heading for the exit and the way home...
past the pond again,
the giant gunnera tower over my head now
underneath view
there was quite a queue to get in, as I left.
I dashed over the road as a bus was coming, which I caught, then when I got back to Kingston my second bus was at the stop as I got off my first one, so for once I was home in super quick time
Thanks for looking
