Kew - after the snow

Not that we got much snow in my part of the UK but it would have been nice to see Kew under snow (saw it last year with a small layering)  - however, the sun was shining today which made all the difference... sit back, this is a photo heavy post (as usual)

 starting with a cloud shot today, walking across Kew Bridge.  the sun illuminating the cloud

 I was early again so had another look at the church gravestones..

 even so I had a chilly few minutes standing at the gate waiting for 10 am....

 sun was still shining and the sky was blue...

 ah, finally! 

Look at that blue, and shadows, welcome back!

 I remembered the globe in my camera bag ..

thought I had taken more at this point though... it's a good 'un though!

you can see the lake is partly frozen (only a thin layer)

 the sun shining on the ice creating a sillhouette effect

snowdrops under the dogwood

 it had rained overnight so there were drops on the backs of the hellebore on the Broad Walk

 bird's nest in a tree

icy puddle

 I went in to see the progress on the Orchid display... stayed further back (had already got the close up lens on)  to get in most of the pack pony carrying the orchid coffee sacks

 in the main part of the POW glasshouse, a large area was cordoned off as they are putting the finishing touches to the display (it opens officially next Saturday) 

so I couldn't get close to a lot of it

 and my lens kept misting up!

tops of two of the big columns of orchids

 under the mangroves..

 work going on (well it wasn't, today, but it will be finished soon) in the water




my camera then started mis-behaving and took some out of focus shots.. yes, blaming my tools!

the sunshine coming through the glass roof was creating great effects on the upper level orchids,

 and bromeliads.

 but they were working on the arches so I couldn't get through that way,







back down round the other way...


these ones hang over the path towards the pond

 as I went down the other set of steps (to look for water dragons), a new bit of the display is in place, a huge swag of orchids above head height

 camera didn't like them either!
but I managed a couple that came out ok.



no sign of water dragons anywhere today.

I can't tell them apart, Elizabeth, they are all the same - but they have their own territories and don't all inter-mingle!

 these are in a big pot in the water where the little water dragons often sit on the branch.. not today though!

(I doubt they have been moved for the duration as they need a specific habitat and there won't be anywhere else to keep them, although I could of course be wrong -  I am just guessing they are hiding in the greenery!)

 I had assumed that there would be orchids hanging from these, but seemingly not..

 through into the cool orchid room (it was later closed, so a good job I walked through when I did)


there were a lot of boxes of orchids in pots waiting to be planted..

 a "curtain" of airplants

 I love these green and white orchids,but the camera's focus system didn't...











these pretty pinky ones were gorgeous, hanging above head height

 I had to keep re-tracing my steps so I couldn't follow a logical path through today.

 back over the main pathway

 front entrance

 always love the sun shining through the alpine house

and through the grasses on the rock garden




(the rest of the grass garden has been hard pruned)

 I walked through the alpine house..

 the centre of these yellow flowers intrigued me more than the yellow flowers themselves...

 

 more sun through plants - in the rock garden

 the woodland walk

 most of the hellebore this year seem to be facing upwards which helps the photography!

 this is a gorgeous witch hazel with the Palm House pond behind..

once again there were loads of gulls flying around










As I walked round the side of the Palm House I saw a fabulous frozen puddle


I shared it on facebook, and my friend Lesley said it looked like an ordnance survey map

 yep, definite hints of contour lines there

 love the shadows on the edge of the rose garden and the walk towards the Temperate House (my destination)

 crossed the grass to look at the hellebore bed (there are a few of them!)

 the big witch hazel in the sun...

managed to not take closeups again today as I've done them..!!

 buds on the flowering cherry trees in the path towards the temperate house..

 inside the Temperate House now..

 the flowers on the silver daisy bush are opening out now

 I can see I will become addicted to these

 I went up the steps this time for a change

 there was a cobweb on the bird of paradise but I couldn't get an angle where it showed up

these are still going strong

 these are new, lovely pale pink

 remember this from last week?  there are buds lower down so hopefully will be easier to capture when they flower

 buds and flowers (above) on this plant

loved the vibrant green on the youngest leaves on this plant

not sure what it is

 pretty little rhododendron

 and this from previous visits, in the sun

I headed for the lake.  yes, the Treetop Walkway is still closed for maintenance.  As I said before, no idea what is wrong, but at 18m up in the air, I don't want to be up there if something goes wrong, so they have to keep it closed..

Anyhow, the lake, as I knew, given the sunny day, was STUNNING.

also partly frozen.

 I took this and shared on FB - love the duck that suddenly shot through the view, on the edge of the slushy ice at the edge of the frozen section.  perfect timing!

this is a phone shot too

 back to camera...

the geese were making a right racket calling to each other..

and swimming through the non-frozen water

 the swans too

on the left side of the bridge

 the gulls were skating about on the ice

group of  ducks snoozing in the sun under a tree

 I got carried away with the ice as it's quite rare to see the water frozen

 and the black/white effect of shooting into the sun on the surface

 moving round the bank a bit so they aren't in silhouette

shadows on the ice

 goose feeding in the shallows

 I think this is a Goldeneye goose.

there are a few of them around.


they were in the shallows at the end of the lake nearest the Palm House


but I decided to walk back round the left hand side

 where I was rewarded by the dogwood glowing in the sun

and one of the swans following a line of geese swimming round the island

 I had already started walking back across the grass when I remembered the globe so headed back!

 bare branches against a gloriously blue sky (it was still very cold though!)

swathes of crocus coming into flower


I took a different path back towards the Orangery restaurant planning to eat something

 the Palm House is never far from view though..

 Kew Palace with some vibrant dogwood in the border

 hmmm the sky was starting to turn (forecast on the weather app on my phone said sleet showers coming - although they didn't in the end)

 but it made for some dramatic pictures

view of the Hive across the grass


there was nothing I fancied in the restaurant (not even cake!)  so I headed back to the Princess of Wales glasshouse in case the water dragons had come out of hiding.

 as I went back in I remembered I had promised wider angle shots to give an impression of the whole place so swapped lenses

this is just before you go into the main tropical section

love all these ferns.

bit misty again! but this is the main tropical area

 under the mangroves

 the pond is on the left, the steps  up to where the arches are

 still no-one working but all the equipment there ready!


it is Saturday I suppose...

 up the stairs, more ladders at the arches

 

 the steps down

 the orchid "swag"

 camera behaving a bit better this time

 I think this is going to be my favourite part.

unless something new appears by next week!







looking down at the main pathway

back towards the exit of the POW






I decided to head home before the weather turned (although as I say, it didn't rain or sleet either in the end )

 I head out of the Elizabeth gate as it's closest to the station


I was surprised to see piles of snow remaining at the side of the path here, having seen none elsewhere inside  (although the grass was icy in places)

shame I couldn't have been there during the week when we had the snow...

this was the sky as I approached my road... lots of cloud,
but before long it was sunny again


Had a great time at Kew today, and look forward to going again next week when the Orchid Display is officially open (it's on for a month)

see you there!