Yesterday was my birthday and I decided to treat myself to a trip to Kew, which re-opened (partly) a couple of weeks ago, although you have to book a time slot so they can restrict number entering. Also I discovered after I had arranged my time slot, they do say you should still stay away if you have to travel by public transport... but as you now have to wear face coverings on public transport, I decided to take the risk.
It's been 3 and a half months, 14th March, since my last visit.... much has changed obviously - and for most of that time Kew was closed anyway.
I travelled safely by train and mighty strange it felt to be on a train again after all this time, the trip going was fine, hardly any people about. It has also been a month since I had my dizzy spell and I haven't had any significant exercise since...
there was a socially distanced queue for the 10 am slot when I arrived.
7
and I headed for my starting point...
obviously Kew has been in lockdown like the rest of the country and staffing levels are down.
So they have prioritised what they are maintaining and what they are leaving.
the Parterre is one of those left.
it was raining - not as hard as it was when I woke, luckily - and thankfully a lot cooler than the last couple of days.
daisies growing in the wall of the pond at the Palm House
you can't see the rain...
I headed down the Broad Walk first
sad to have missed all the Spring beauty, that was just coming out when I was here in March, but it was lovely to be back!
the lilies were fab
and the euphorbia
scabious
the alliums in the Broad Walk have already gone to seed - still gorgeous, but missed all that colour!!
everything was a little more wild than usual, in the borders due to the limited people working
it was looking good though
and you can't beat poppies!
it was windy so the smaller flowers were proving awkward
the Hive had closed for maintenance before lockdown which has obviously stopped work, so that was unavailable to visit too
so I stuck to my favourite macros!
allium drifts - different stage of flowering on these
at the end of the Broad Walk was a mobile pop up refreshment van but a long (ish) queue so no stopping.
instead I cut across the grass
through some trees
this is one of the Heritage Trees, one of the oldest at Kew
but it's sign has fallen over, blown out of the ground at some time
brick pattern caught my eye at the Secluded Garden
the water at the water feature was off
I've always liked these slate towers
the water has obviously been off a while and no-one's dusted!!
grasses on a bank in front of the Princess of Wales glasshouse
all the glasshouses are shut so you can't go inside any of them, I wonder how the Chinese Water dragons are...
outside the POW
I walked along the top path of the Rock Garden
from where you can see through the windows of the POW through to the main pond area.
the water on the inside window is from the carnivourous room but you can see the waterlily leaves
I went down to the lower level of the rock garden
and through to the Aegius Evolution Garden.
it decided to rain hard again here
the Rose Pergola is looking good though
all of a sudden the sun came out
the Eryngium were shining in the sun
I got carried away with them
bees were loving them too
iridescent delphiniums
drifts of alstromeria lilies
some later flowering allium varieties here still had colour
and agapanthass coming out
raindrops on a day lily
at the far end of the Evolution Garden, bordering the student patches is a bed that is full of poppies and cornflowers and
some yellow daisy like flowers...
left wild, I love them!
it was raining again harder ... and windy
they won't stay still for me!
I had to shelter under some trees for a while, as none of the buildings are open there was no respite from the rain... hadn't thought that through not bringing the umbrella!
but in the end I headed for the rose garden
the rain lessened again for a while
although the Temperate House is closed to visitors the doors at the end were open for ventilation and there was someone inside watering
through the (closed) central door
can't wait to be allowed inside again sometime!
Headed for the lake...
nettles
never really looked at them before
the lake was looking.... green!!
lots of ducks and gees, and a couple of swans
as I neared the far side of the crossing, I noticed some huge fish
koi carp, I assume,
there were 4 or 5 of the black ones
I walked up to the end of the lake still in the rain.
I would have liked to sit a while (all that walking I wasn't used to!) and eat my snack I'd taken with me but all the benches were soaking wet or the ones under trees already occupied, so I ate on the hoof!
I love this - think it's a smoke bush??
and you know me and water drops!
wet pines!
monkey puzzle tree in the sun (contrary weather!!)
beautiful big Broom
lavatera
cistus, soaking wet
I walked round to the other side of the Temperate House
the sun was coming out now, and so I decided to walk back to the rose garden
where the benches were dry enough to sit on for a few minutes
as I said on FB - ignore the big hair!
can't wait for my hairdressers to re-open (they're getting ready!) .....
big sky!
then I headed back round the front of the Palm House
where it was looking a lot brighter than a few hours previously
but I decided to head back down the Broad Walk and for home
Kew was getting busier - although you book a time slot to enter, you can stay as long as you want - and I knew the trains would be busier than this morning, so it was time for home
they were too, and some people were ignoring the face covering rules so I was glad to be on my way home
but what a joy to be back - looking a bit wilder than usual (aren't we all!) - I hope you've enjoyed visiting again too.
I don't think I'll go back to my every week visits just yet, but hope it won't be too long before I do go again.
Thanks for looking
My feet and back ached a bit by the time I got home, but on the whole I coped well with the unaccustomed walking, so all was well.
