Kew - more orchids

I had another time slot for the orchids this morning, and headed off in dry weather (no mean feat this week) 

 the primulas are fully out now and creating a carpet of colour in the beds at the Palm House




I dashed along the path towards the Princess of ?Wales glasshouse though

 I really like the 10.30 timeslot, as they have been letting us in straight away, so you get ages (as far as I can tell,you can stay as long as you want )

 I know you've seen the views all before, but

 I will try to get slightly different angles of things

 I headed up the steps to the arches whilst they were "empty"

 

 I really like this "wall" of orchids climbing up the air plants (I came back round later and got some closer shots)

 when I went through into the next section, I saw

a couple looking into the water in a little pond, and peered over their shoulders - 

there were 3 or 4 of them.
my friend Lesley says they are axolotl (Mexican walking fish)  - I think she may be right having googled it.

the tunnel was already quite popular











I tried to take a picture into one of the pitcher plants - it wasn't totally successful!

 on the board (above) there is a photo of the actual corpse lily flower but I couldn't get it in.

I just love all the pillars covered in orchids and bromeliads

 into the cool orchid room now

 these proved incredibly hard to focus on!

gorgeous colour!  water drops... nuff said!

 I love the hairy "arms" on this variety

 it seems the sun had come out as the ferns were lit up

 peering over the ferns down to the pillars below

leaf pattern

 catching up with the orangutans (yes, Elizabeth I love them)

 the volcano

 back up the steps again

 some of the orchids on the airplant wall

 top of an arch

 back down to the orangutans

 bottle brush..... I was about to head for the exit

but decided to walk round one last time

 and how pleased I was!


so they do leave them in here during the orchids - well, this one anyway as it can't get in the way of people.

I had to break the habit of a lifetime and crop these, as I couldn't get close (didn't have the zoom with me)  so cut out a lot of the greenery.

 but finally I headed out

 alpine house

 as I was about to enter the alpine house my eye was caught by the flash of pink on a stone tub of alpines outside

 sunshine!!!! 

 the snowdrops on the hill have faded, but it's a carpet of daffodils at the top

 better attempt today of the face with the crocus in the background

 the fountain was on an intermittent display,  mostly on, then off for a minute or two...

 gulls were fighting the wind

despite the colour of the sky, it was more or less dry all day (a few spots whilst I was waiting to get in at 10)


I headed for some food...

no chocolate cakes available today - this was ginger and carrot... not bad, bit stodgy,  and couldn't detect ginger...

the hot chocolate wasn't as good as usual, not as frothed up as normal....

 after I'd been to the loo I realised as I'd walked round the pond I had forgotten to look at the flowering cherry..


wow, the flowers have really come out a lot in the last week!

it was really windy and the slender stems were waving all over





this "close up" from the phone...

and this one,  you can almost see the wind blowing!

 I headed across to the Palm House beds

 and admired the patterns

I wasn't going to go through the Palm House
on my way to the Temperate House, but......

as I was walking along a path I head someone say something like "I didn't see it, it was pointed out".... can only mean one thing!

 no idea if it's one from the POW that they move during the orchids (I suspect it is) or it's the Palm House's own one that I saw mentioned on their website - anyway, it was lovely to see another one today

 I headed across some muddy squishy grass towards the Temperate House

 where sunlit crocuses abounded

the tulips are coming through the grass under the cherry trees

although it was very windy, it wasn't particularly cold





but it was nice to get into the Temperate House

 you know how much I love the silver daisy bush,

and it never disappoints

 these narcissus are so small.

 still going strong...

 I went over to the huge tree from last week

 little apples or something under a tree... have obviously been left to rot for food for something

 the sign on this shrub was broken...

 more daffodils everywhere

 the sky was nearly blue in spots!

 I got blown across the lake on the crossing

 I sat on a bench for a couple of minutes

and enjoyed the sky.... this cloud looks really ominous but it's just backlit by the (fleeting) sun

as I left the lakeside, I headed left in the direction of the exit.



in the distance I could see pink amongst the trees

 (and some white)  - the magnolias are starting to flower!

 this one from the phone shows how big it is..

 it's really one this one large tree that is out yet


but the others won't be far behind

 the ground underfoot was very VERY squelchy (it always is, every year) given all the rain we've had lately.

but in the interest of art I managed to stay upright

a large leaf on the ground, nearly all skeleton. 

 the magnolias are in a little (large) dip in the ground, and on the slope by them are lots of crocus spreading





However, the headache I had woken up with was threatening to return, so I decided to head for home

 as I walked past one of the giant old trees I remembered the globe lens...

 and realised in my eagerness to get tot he orchids, I hadn't visited the Broad Walk.


I walked partway up

 but didn't go right to the top,

 instead turning and heading out

 stopping for some big tree pics!

and went out via the Elizabeth gate (that I rarely photograph!)



thanks for looking.