A cloudy morning at Kew

Another train strike and a cloudy day greeted me for today's visit. 

 a very grey day! 

 I started down the Broad Walk as usual

 these pink petals are so soft and velvety looking

 love the fading beauty in the Broad Walk..

 but some of them are still yellow!

 gorgeous little alliums

 still a favourite.  lying down low on the path

yep, still love them even fading

 lots of bee action again

 walking round the end of the Broad Walk beds and back up the inside on the grass, towards the Hive...

where the wildflower meadow has been cut back for autumn and to regenerate for next year..

it looks SO different

 I shared a picture to my chat group of friends and Lesley said how lovely the soft grey light looked.

this is the floor, with the light (that there was) catching the structure beneath)


I have to agree, I took lots today from different angles, with the wide angle lens

 laid down on the floor to avoid falling backwards when shooting up at the top

directly under the centre opening

I sat for a few minutes enjoying the music generated by the activity of the bees captured in the real hive

 walking back down the steps, still with the wide angle on,

 side view of part of the Princess of Wales glasshouse

 centre section of the back of a bench

 bright red dahlias

 looking through the pergola to the beds beyond

 most of the roses are finished now

whopper tomatoes!

 the alpine house and the princess of wales across the grass garden

 sedum

 no lying on the grass today, it was damp... got as low as I could though!

 tried to find the label from this beauty I shared last week too  but couldn't see it. 

 after breakfast, was feeling chilly so walked towards the Temperate House


Indian Bean trunk

 feature on the roof

glimpsing through the windows..

 the Pagoda  through the trees

 looking through the doors (windows need cleaning, Kew!) to the other side...
not open yet, will have to wait for a while...

 walked past on the way to the lake... decided against climbing up

 despite the grey overcast sky, I was surprised at how reflective the water still was at the lake.

 the pair of swans were drifting about by the bridge

walked back to the Temperate House.

there was a sudden flurry as several green parakeets flew in - and out of again - this tree.

if you close up, you can see some of them


I wasn't able to get the lens to focus fast enough to catch them in flight

 the Temperate House was open now

 through the window from the top walk

 back down on the floor, along the length of the glasshouse

 outside again, hypericum full of bees

 this was the shrub I saw last week that was still buzzing, absolutely covered in bees and wasps and flying things...
hundreds and hundreds of them

 i think if you click on it you can see better

 huge hibiscus flower outside the Palm House

 I went up the stairway for a humid walk round here... tall lush growth..

compared to the renewed Temperate House, the ironwork looks sad... and foggy, but that is because my lens kept misting up in the humidity


I love the iron flowers, though

didn't stop up the walkway too long, it was hot!


huge palm from the ground

 quick visit to the waterlily house

 another hibiscus inside this time

 into the Princess of Wales now, this huge flower was on a cactus - in fact it had about 4 all this size

 massive waterlily pads

 pattern on the top of one (not one with the pink bottoms though)

 pineapple (not an edible one)

 Mum had one of these, it never had quite such large flowers though!
It does make good houseplants though

it's an Aechmea  - I seem to remember the edges of the leaves were very spiky... didn't investigate this time

 I was looking for lizards but there were none to be seen  today.

this incurling leave looked like an enormous stick insect though!

 back down by the waterlilies, a Kew official was breaking open a pod from the jade vine..


the insides, bright pink, almost seemed to be moving! 

 outside again, the cannas and gladioli in the water

cut back through to the Broad Walk

 loving the huge drifts of colour I couldn't resist another shot

I had a bit of time before I needed to head for the station - didn't want to risk missing a train

 across the Broad Walk you can see the bare slope of the wildflower meadow

 stopped at the exit to put the lens away,
but not before some last big blooms

and another busy bee!



thanks for looking again!

despite the sun not really coming out, it did warm up a bit and it was another great walk!