Kew - in the rain

Something happened at Kew today that hasn't all summer -  it rained!  fortunately not right from the very outset... but by the time I left my hair was quite wet!  Being so thick it holds a lot of water..
Anyhow...

 it was already dull though as you can see by the sky!

 rambling roses in the Broad Walk

 as I walked down the Broad Walk where I noticed that a lot of the colour is fading with the advancing season, I spied colour off to the left in the trees, so I would soon deviate from my normal route

 Red Oak leaves definitely turning

 seemed to have had trouble focusing on these, this is the best of the ones I took.

Lirope.

 "fluff" in the Broad Walk

 asters still looking largely good though

 and I never tire of the drifting rudbeckia

 there's a large bird sitting on the very right hand edge of the Hive.. a crow, I think

but the geese were flying around..

 off to explore the trees..

 it was a shame the sky was so grey, but maybe next time!

 Liquidamber.. you can see where this tree gets it's name

 I read somewhere that the colour this autumn will be fabulous, but short-lived because of the heat in the summer...

so I am allowing myself to get carried away with the ones I share, just in case!

 still plenty of green though

 the contrast of colours is always fabulous.

couldn't do my usual trick of getting the light through the leaves, there being not enough light

all I got were silhouettes

 strong winds earlier in the week (although not as bad down here as elsewhere in the country) have caused lots of leaves to drop..  these were thick enough to rustle through, despite being a bit damp

 berries everywhere

and acorns

 Sargent Cherry ( a prunus species)

 the large blooms of the colchicums (autumn crocus) mostly blown to the ground

raindrops from overnight, not yet raining..

had to keep turning to check vistas and colours..

 leaf - and some kind of nut - litter on the floor

I imagine the squirrels have had the contents!

 I found myself at the lake  - another flock of geese flew into shot.... couldn't avoid the life jacket in the way, but it makes a nice splash of colour!

 the man I saw last week feeding the swans had just sat down and was throwing some food into the water and at his feet and was taking photographs... a huge gaggle of geese came running up for breakfast!

I left them to it

I rode the lift up the Treetop Walkway


the trees all around were full of green parakeet that were flying all about... fast!

cue trying to get them in focus and not in silhouette....

 they were playing, swooping and diving and landing in trees.  I tried to creep closer but they kept flying off again

 in the end I gave up

 back on the ground, this squirrel was much happier to pose, too busy eating to run away





I carried on my way... my eye caught large clumps of funghi..

as I was talking the photos, a Kew truck came round the corner.  The driver pulled up and stopped to chat - asking me about my camera and what lens I was using - and if I shot on auto or manual.. When I said auto, he said, try switching to manual (the lens has a manual setting) .....




 I went back to the biggest group of funghi.....wow!!







that's quite a difference, could get focused much closer!
 

 amazing texture on the surface of the funghi









as you can see, a huge clump - this was the biggest

 needs practice though (or I need to start taking my reading glasses!)  but love the red of the holly berries...

 this one is better, raindrops on the crocus

 more red trees

 a little bit more light for a while...

 twisted tree trunks

after being distracted again, by the colour I headed for breakfast...

it was getting on for 10, 

 large fallen leaf

as I sat outside eating and drinking my coffee, it started to spit with rain. 

the jets round the fountain (my fountain!) that have been off all summer - maintenance I think - were on, although only a little... Good to see it working again.

 round the back of the pond the Gunnera leaves are drooping, not sure if from the weather or just the end of their season...

 I passed a bench with a broken branch propped on it....


some time later I came passed it again and it had been moved to the grass...

it had obviously snapped in the bad weather

 couldn't see the label on this.. lovely purple though

 the family beds, mostly emptied for the rejuvenation of the area, the paths are now blocked off from access to allow the work to be done

On Gardener's World yesterday they were talking about Salvias and how fabulous they were at this time of year.


they weren't wrong

 the bee thought so too

 I went into the Princess of Wales glasshouse.

 no sign of water dragons though again

 the giant arum is growing again.

back outside, raining quite hard now,

 I imagine they'll be clearing the Parterre beds at the Palm House before long... but still packed with colour for now.

 still lots of roses too..

 I walked in the rain to the Temperate House...

 unfurling fern fronds

 the tree ferns are growing

couldn't see what this was...

 edge of leaf of a red banana plant

 close up of the bottom of an urn in the doorway.


time to go, didn't want to get any wetter, so put away the big lens and headed off...

but walking down the Broad Walk on my way to the exit, couldn't resist taking the camera out from inside my coat where it was staying dry, for the water on the alchemilla mollis (lady's mantle)


always love it



Hopefully next time I go it won't be quite so grey, or wet!