Kew- it was wet, but oh, the colours!

So, today was a wet visit - had to take the brolly.... but a bit of rain never puts me off.   I do hate carrying a brolly (umbrella)  though.

 true to promise, the beds have been emptied in front of the Palm House

 I headed round to the Waterlily house first this time

 my camera was going to spend most of the time inside the hot houses steaming up but I like the atmosphere it provides

 the gourds round the edge of the pond are decaying but prolific

 reflections

 outside, the trees were stunning


this is the big one at the top of the Broad Walk the colour has changed so much in a week

walking down the Broad Walk- trees to the left

 everything was soaked!

 the large clump of ??   I want to call them michaelmas daisies but not sure if they are -   are still beautiful

 the hedge bordering the path by the Hive

outside the Princess of Wales glasshouse

 the first water dragon was a-top the pillar again

 I had real trouble photographing them today (misting was as I say, a big problem)

 the arch covered in Passion Flower has a couple of big blooms out

 and round the corner, resting on the grating again


this is the only one that is any good (admittedly the grating doesn't make a great (sorry!)  background

 and in the trees, hidden by foreground leaves a young one again.

 back round at the pond huge water lily pads

this is in one of the drier desert sections

 Agave outside but under the shelter of the roof

 there is so much more colour in this one too

 had to walk past the sculpture again

 the evolution garden still full of colour,

 although the purple are fading a bit now

water drops... who knew!

 despite the rain there were still lots of people about, under umbrellas mostly

 poppy leaves

 macro poppy!

 the salvia border is still full of colour

 and rain!

 another strawberry tree

 white baneberry

funghi (was to see lots today.. just a heads up!)

 still plenty of green too

 malus

 Gunnera

 I was heading for coffee and cake....

amazingly, no-one was eating outside!!

luckily I found a seat inside, they were hard to come by!

hot chocolate for a change (though it wasn't cold outside despite the rain - I normally only have hot chocolate when it's cold) - and a new cake to try -  pineapple and carrot.... sounded so odd a combination I had to try it.


delicious, although not sure I could taste much of either particularly!

 another huge toadstool, this one under the big tree at the entrance

loads more colour here too since last week

 fabulous berries on the other side of the path, there was a group of women exclaiming over them

 walking back round the other path,

 soaking wet berries (hips actually I think)

 there has been a lot of rain this week (even before today!)

 looking down towards the Pagoda

 a flock of geese crossed the path in front of me....

 more raindrops!

 most of the grass in front of the Neodymium Reeds has turned to mud,  it was very squelchy!

 but the wet weather was making the colours  pop

 out of the rain into the Temperate House

 still some big hibiscus flowers

 making sure I get some pics of most of the Chihuly before they go

 I walked round a couple of times

 the chrysanthemums are still sitting in their pots waiting...

 I am sure it's just the weather today, but this seems to have faded!

 back out, still raining!!

 more berries

 more funghi

 more raindrops!

 the grass from the Temperate House towards the Pagoda and the Japanese garden was just a wet muddy puddle....

so I squelched in the grass instead so I didn't slip

but by doing so I came across a "fairy circle"  of funghi


tiny little toadstools - I couldn't get the whole thing as with the wider angle on all you got to see was the grass as it spread over a wide area

 this peacock was sheltering under trees

 but these too were just getting wet like the rest of us

 more berries

 the Japanese Garden and the Nijima Floats

 just look at the colour!

phone version - better I think.

from the other side

next I was going to head for the lake

trees laden with berries

red ones

 orange ones

 and yellow ones!

 the little pond half way down Cedar Vista

the rain was making patterns in the water

 at the lake I was rewarded though

I'd taken the globe as usual as I thought I might catch some rain in it,

but the reflections in the lake were just gorgeous through it

 I would have loved to sit for a while but of course all the benches were soaking wet, so I had to keep going!

 was juggling with phone, camera and umbrella


this is a phone one

and this

 the patch of fungi is turning black (from the rain I guess)

 went back inside the Temperate House looking for a bench

 but saw some things I'd missed first time through

 there was a space on a bench in the shelter of the entrance though

watching all the umbrellas!

 the rain seems to bring the glass to life

 back onto the muddy grass again,

 towards the Palm House..

 but I was heading for the gallery first

 back outside, I swapped lenses to capture a better view of the colour over an area

 bit wet to scuffle through the leaves today!

pink berries



as I walked down the path, I saw a small tree with a huge number of funghi in the soil at the base....

 I may have got carried away here

 the colours were so rich

 still finding funghi!

 back at the rose garden behind the palm house

 I walked through the Palm House and of course the lens misted up immediately....


it looks like I've smeared the lens with vaseline!

I like it

but outside it cleared

 two swans paddling furiously across the pond

 that tree again!

 it's a Northern Pin Oak from the NE of the US

 underneath the canopy

 back down the Broad Walk,

for a few minutes it almost seemed to have stopped raining...

 cut through the trees back to

 the POW - yes, still up the pillar (it was over 3 hours since I'd been in the first time)


the small one was still on it's branch too but I still couldn't get a decent photo

 tiny little flowers in one of the orchid rooms


(it had been closed for watering when I was there the first time)

 and orchids

strange flowers

 the air was still so the music from the Hive (interpreted from the movement of the bees in the real hive) was carrying a fair distance and you could hear it on the Broad Walk

 still plenty of colour at the far end of the Broad Walk






but my knees were protesting from all the walking and not enough resting.


so it was time to head home


thanks for keeping up with it (if you have!)

it was a fabulous day, even though the rain was relentless - at least it wasn't heavy and I had to keep juggling with the camera. umbrella

but SO worth it!