Kew - Spring is springing

Today's trip to Kew was dry!!  It was even relatively mild...

 passing the Palm House beds on the way to the Princess of Wales glasshouse for the orchid....

 wiping the condensation off my lens (soft scarf)  for the beautiful blue orchids..

there were several dangling strands of the jade vine by the pond

 I really like the volcano feature

 it seems to be surviving well (although the white "smoke" are obviously not plants)

 on the upper level, on one of the arches












I did notice that a lot of the planting seemed to have gone over and there had been some pruning going on,

so they were less densely packed with colour than before (not sure what they will look like next week for the "extended by popular demand" week

 I tried to get different angles on things to avoid too many repeats from the last 3 weeks

 pink bananas on my way down the steps to the lower area

the "ear" of the tiger

managed to dodge people to get clear shots

 texture on a "temple" gate


it was visible today as many of the orchids had been removed

 in the cool orchid room

got a better close up on the phone

 big leaves

 I had another walk round the arches "upstairs"

 and the mossy animals

 there were definitely less orchids surrounding the orangutans

 I definitely didn't spend as long inside the display this week

 but somethings always stop me!

 bright colour outside

 crown imperial fritillaria, in the alpine house

then a quick walk through the rock garden


lovely pale green hellebores

 a cone, cut or broken or nibbled in two, nestling between two rocks

 fascinating pattern inside

 a different kind of euphorbia, like a creeping mat..  love this one

 magnolia at the foot of the daffodil covered hill at the end of the evolution garden

lots of buds to come

 this bud looks like it has hair stuck to it 

 catkin-y thing

 blue spring carpet!

 twisty tree trunk

made sure I walked round the back of the pond to catch the cherry blossom







not as windy today

 so the branches were slightly more co-operative!

phone version

all the inside seats were full at the cafe, so had to sit outside - it was a bit breezy but not really cold so it was ok!


(lemon drizzle muffin and hot chocolate)

 but I didn't linger long!


masses of crocus planted under trees

 nearly all purple or white or stripey

 masses of berries on a big palm (I think)

 the big ivy at the top of the steps on the way up to the Temperate House, with all those fab spiky flowers, has been cut right back


the tulips are growing, I was looking into them for signs of buds coming but it's still a bit early I think

 inside the Temperate House, the rhododendron I saw last week

 orchds

 I love this (not sure what it is exactly, no label)

the orange on the petals looks painted on  (great effect, which I could do that)

 the phone seemed to let me get closer to the bits I want to focus on

 the "dry river bed" with the tree ferns

 this

 and this, are two of my favourite flowers in the Temperate House

 I climbed up the stairs to the platform



down into a tree fern

 Ahead of me were three people and the man was taking photos through the holes in the structure of his wife/partner whatever, through a hole further up.... I thought that was fun

so I did one without people (obviously)


but I love the metalwork anyway

 I love the colours - creamy green and burgundy - of this hippeastrum

 new growth

 and blossom everywhere now - spring is coming!

the heron 

 at the lake,  more intensive pruning or clearing round the edges

 one of the photographers I see who always feeds the birds and squirrels (for better shots)  was talking about the swans - they all have names apparently - there are 4 that used to be here until a couple of years ago but were bullied away, that have come back.

 I saw two of them preening on the lake side

the man also mentioned the Egyptian geese had had babies,  I found them, mum sitting under a bench, dad under a tree a few feet away, and the 2 babies, running around

 the ground under the magnolias was still squishy but not quite as bad as last week, there's been a bit less rain this week

 so I was able to get some close ups

 although it was a popular spot today and very busy

as i walked away you can see the scale of the trees

it won't be long before the waterlily house is re-opened, although they've not re-filled the pond yet

 the planting outside is so pretty, matching the palm house beds

 with some red added

 it was busier today, with the weather being better

 I went into the palm house,


didn't climb up to walk round the higher level but lots of people were doing

 as I went to photograph this, I saw movement below...

 one of the palm house robins.


they were singing all over the place, I don't know how many there are (I thought they are quite territorial, but maybe they've adapted in here!)

I did catch one pair mating... but the camera was being modest

he/she was quite flitty, dashing here there and everywhere


(this on the phone)

 not sure what this is, the flower is hellebore shaped but it smelled very odd.

 banana



no sign of the water dragon anywhere today

think this is some kind of funghi on the ground

 I sat on a bench outside for a few minutes

 before walking down the Broad Walk

 but I got diverted by more blossom

 walking along the grass behind the Broad Walk

 caught a patch of red towards the Hive

chaenomoles

 more magnolias, 

 and crocus

 these can't be native bluebells, it's too early

another clump of hellebores,

and I was done.

thanks for joining me.


Coronovirus permitting (from a transport/mass closure of public places if we are to believe the worst case scenarios)  we'll be back next week!