More Chihuly and tulips... Kew..

Well, after last week's glorious weather, today saw storm Hannah battering the UK... Luckily the originally forecast rain for the southeast (my part anyway) held off, for the most part -  though the wind was strong...
back to a warm coat!

 I was a bit early so stopped at the churchyard on the way past

first in - no huge crowds today given the cold weather and non-bank holiday weekend.

the daffodils are fading in the beds and being deadheaded.   I did later notice (and photograph) that the next session planting - the alliums - are coming out.  Hurrah!

one of the tulip beds by the pond
the tulips are fading too, lots of them have been deadheaded too.

 raspberry ripple ice cream anyone?
it was far too cold for ice cream, I was wishing I had brought my gloves!

 so I went into the waterlily house to warm up for a few minutes.

the weed on the surface of the water has cleared (or been cleared) since last week, so the sculpture was reflecting nicely
(I got some better photos later, the cold outside and the humidity inside was fogging my lens badly)

I crossed the path to the Palm House

petal litter on the floor - bet it had looked fabulous when it was on the plant!

 walking  back out of the Palm House, the Summer Sun, surrounded by people in warm clothes - so different to last week when most people were in shorts!

beautiful blossom

 swathes of wildflowers everywhere.
I always forget what these are.

 intermingled with bluebells

the wind was playing havoc with focusing, and things kept moving at inopportune moments...

 walking through the Mediterranean garden

 loving the purple against the pink of the Judas Tree

 the blossom by the Temperate House has all gone.

 still loving the tulips

 and a robin moved to a branch on one of the trees

 inside the Temperate House

red bottle brush

yellow bottle brush

 silver daisy bush,  still going!

 ferns

 from halfway up the stairs

 trying to get slightly different views..


no sun today to make them shimmer

 didn't take AS many this week!

I've tried to concentrate on patterns and reflections in the sculptures today

 haven't looked closely at the "stem" of this one before

 there was a robin singing loudly inside, echoing around the huge space.  a lady nearby spotted it.. it was really fluffy and kept moving!

into the gallery now.

 I took lots of close ups of the sculptures in the gallery, noticing features I hadn't before

 and admiring the shapes

 I really hadn't looked at this at all closely before.


I think this room is somewhere, every time you go in, you will see something new

 just love this top piece on one of the sculptures

 and the shadows on this one.  they really did perfect the lighting

I was lucky, there was hardly anyone in there at the time I was there

 the lady whose arm you can see, was taking as many photos as me.  I've seen her at Kew before, she's a regular too!

took this one on the phone of them all. 

 as I went out through the shop, I noticed they've got some small (in size)  items for sale... had the wrong lens on to take a picture of the sale display. 
anyone got £6000 to spare?  I'll try and get a photo next week

back outside, the sun was trying to come out

 I walked back across the grass, past the Temperate House towards the Treetop Walkway

 I walked round the path under the legs of the walkway (well, round the outside of the legs, you can't walk through the wildflowers)

 took loads of pics,  the wind was really strong,

wild garlic I think

 I was a bit surprised to find the walkway open, given how windy it was.  I went up - it was blooming gusty up there and lots of people were holding on to the edge!


I thought about taking a video on my phone but it was waving about a bit!

you can't see (obviously!) how the trees were swaying, the one to the left of the walkway here was really going!

 it was quite a cloudy day and the trees are getting very leafy so you don't see as far as sometimes

 back down on terra firma,  now

I walked to the lake

 and more wildflowers

they've planted a load of acers in recent years which are getting established now,

gorgeous red!

 there was a little sun to catch the top of the red glass

 back at the Palm House, the alliums coming out that I mentioned earlier

 the gorgeous poppies that were so fabulous last week, in the urns...

 so sad.... still beautiful, but nearly finished!  I bet they'll have taken them out by next week

 Malus  huge tree,  full of blossom

 framing the Palm House nicely

 as promised, back for some reflections

it's not a misted up lens, it's the reflection!

 I love how some are completely clear, some more solid.

 back outside again, walked past the end tulip bed

 a lot of the tulips in the "paintbrush" bed are finished,

 but they are so pretty!

alliums in the Broad Walk

 I was aiming for the Princess of Wales glasshouse, but noticed the wildflower meadow at the hive is flourishing  so went for a closer look...

 Wysteria

 will get better in the next week or two

 finally made it into the POW...

 it always amazes me to see drops on these in macro mode, when you can't with the naked eye

sloth is still hanging around!

no sign of the chinese water dragons though

 more reflections

 you don't normally get a good photo of the fish in the pond

 there were more of the red passionflowers, but not all were fully out

heading back out to the exit, had to peer over the glass to get this... as you know I don't really like cacti...

 flowering yukka.... some of the flowers had bags over them, a sign said they hand pollinate them and collect the seeds for the Millenium Seed Bank

 it's quite a tall flower spike!

 iris

 I love peonies!

 rhododendron

the handkerchief tree (davidia involucrata)


glorious!

 I had a look at how the work on the old family beds is coming along - the beds are in, completely different shapes...looking forward to seeing it finished later in the summer

 viburnum, huge, covered in flowers

 walked through the Rock Garden

 pasqueflower, (pulsitilla vulgaris)

I love these, I had one in the garden a long time ago...

 love the fluffy heads

some are dark red rather than purple

 I did get carried away with their beauty

told you the wind blew at the wrong time a lot!

left this in for a laugh

 walked through the alpine house

 gorgeous!

 

 xanthoceras sorbifolium - beautiful!

the viburnum arch in the garden by Kew Palace


lots more to come here, must remember to check again

 with Kew Palace as a backdrop

 formal garden at the front

 lilac (syringa)

 the smell was fabulous

 iris

 love lies bleeding

 getting ready for a wedding in the Nash Conservatory... went a bit closer but they don't let the public in when there's a private event on so the security guy was waving me away!

so I concentrated on the purple-black tulips in the nearby bed

 they are such an intense colour!

 you can almost SEE the wind blowing these!

 another syringa, at the exit gate

 just love the tiny flowers

 there was a cricket match on Kew Green as I walked down the road towards the station

a huge wysteria growing up someone's house

 it was looking grey over the river

 one of the street lights

never photographed these flats before, but I have always been attracted by them - bet there's a great view from those top balconies!


Thanks for looking


hopefully next week - the start of the 8am early opening - will be sunnier!