Kew

The forecast for today was still cloudy but not a lot stops me going to Kew...
It was mild though after a chilly start and I stayed longer than I have for a while - which means a very photo heavy post (again!)  Sit back and enjoy...

 my usual starting point, with the beds developing well....



I could see work going on too, with brightly coloured glass...

 love the combination of yellow and purple..

one of the Dale Chihuly glass installations going up...

this one is called Sun...

in case you don't know much about him, here is a link to his website...

 the urns along the edge of the pond have been planted and are looking good

 Palm House bedding

 round bed at the end of the pond

 daffodils in the Broad Walk

Prunus, looking stunning between the Broad Walk and Princess of Wales glasshouse

 in the POW to look for the water dragons (still no sign of them, or anyone to ask again either) 

the jade vine is dropping ... petals?  not sure they count as petals.

 but looking good still

the sloth is still hanging around!!

 whilst a lot of the orchids have been removed, there are some left still

 you can really see the stripy stems of these without all the rest of the orchidy underplanting

 the jaguars are still strutting their stuff too

waterdrops

 ferns

 my favourite dark red orchid

complete with water drop.  had to take loads to get it in focus properly

 handrail

bottle brush

 heading out the daffodils are looking stunning

(we'll see more of them later)

 in the alpine house

 out into the rock garden

 went to check the work on the old family bed area..

 read the plaque about what they are doing here

you may need to enlarge it to read the details

 some of the magnolias are huge

 walking round the palm house pond, the gunnera have shot up in the week - there was hardly any growth last week

 a look at the work from the other side of the pond

 as you know I love this tree,
this week there was no wind to annoy my photos

 after my coffee and cake break I went across the grass towards the Temperate House

the clouds were starting to part and - unexpectedly - the sun was trying to break through.

 some more Chiluly partly installed

 this tree is so huge!

 massive slope covered in daffodils

 another massive magnolia

 mahonia (creeping barbery)

 acer in leaf

 walking past the gallery (closed for a new exhibition to be installed) and onto the path up to the Temperate House, a tall
sculpture was catching the light.


there was a man with a Kew lanyard there, that I was talking to, about how excited I am at the upcoming display, and the last one in 2009,

this is due to have planting round the base (which isn't in the picture)

I love how this is catching the light

 as I walked into the Temperate House a blaze of purple hit my eye..

 this looks pinker than it really was

 peeking through the stems..

round the other side (it was a large shrub!)

 can't believe how long the silver daisy bush has been flowering

 fern uncurling

 hebe

bird of paradise

 outside at the far end of the TH, are a series of flowering cherries,  this one was huge and covered in bees.

it was stunning!

as I went back through the TH I took this on my phone to show the spread of the tree...

 more blossom as I came out of the TH. 

I walked towards the lake, and looking up at the Treetop Walkway, got a surprise... people!!

 as you know, it has been shut for maintenance for some weeks.

I had to climb up and have a look

 wide angle...

 I did notice one or two patches of the  walkway that had been replaced, so they have been doing something then!


despite the cloudy day, there was still quite a view

 got the globe out for a play.  I love it with buildings in personally

 the rusty pillars

 back down on the ground

heading for the lake,

swan on a nest in the island in the lake - her mate was close by in the water


they are a devoted couple for sure!

veering left, towards the magnolia grove,

past swathes of daffodils

 some lovely prunus trees, these will be huge in a few years

forsythia in the distance

 although a lot of the magnolias have dropped, there are as you can see, lots still left.

 love the middles!

you can really see them when the petals drop

 a yellowy one on the way

 went to see the forsythia up close

 round the edge of the rose garden a whole load of prunus (flowering cherry) have been planted and they are looking fab

 went into the Palm House..


could hear the birds that live in there singing, but couldn't see them... a teeny tiny mouse was running around the beds but I couldn't get close enough to focus in time

 outside, the tubs at the top of the steps are more advanced than the ones round the edge of the pond, some of the tulips are opening

 went to look at the work going on... the glass is just so colourful!

from the phone.

spoke to several people today, for some reason they all seemed to think I knew what I was talking about when I was explaining about Dale and his work!

 some kind of pine cone on the floor - it was quite soft, which surprised me

the bed at the top of the broad walk

 euphorbia in the sun, with daffodils below them

 another magnolia

 my cousin had shown some glory in the snow from her local park she visits, this week, and I realised I hadn't checked out Kew's...


you can see the drift of blue

 was pleased to see this year they've been roped off to stop people walking amongst them.


got down on the ground for a close view

 I love the daisies amongst them, as they haven't cut the grass for a while obviously

 daffodils in the broad walk, with the blue glory behind them

 went back across towards the POW in case the dragons had appeared

 magnolia with the Hive behind

the daffodils outside the Princess of Wales glasshouse

 still no dragons!

 big sky!

quick visit to the loo before heading home,
crow photobombed the Orangery shot

 daffodils and primulas in the round bed at the other end of the broad walk

 tulips in the bed at the exit

 final magnola

 the river as I crossed Kew Bridge

thanks for joining me on this mammoth visit to Kew.