Kew - sunny and windy

Welcome back for another trip to Kew

patches of blue amidst a somewhat dramatic sky to start with

this one I took on my phone caught the clouds a few seconds later to more dramatic effect

 I was surprised to see the sun today as it wasn't in the forecast   and it was quite windy - fortunately the severe winds further north in the UK of Storm Malek weren't really a problem down here

the spray of the fountain was being blown about though (to greater effect later, as we'll see)

I headed for the evolution garden first 

the teasels against the blue sky were looking good

a lot of the planting in the evolution garden , even the seed heads of plants has been cut down to the ground ready for the new season but the teasels remain

the statue is still holding onto his thistles!

it was so nice to see blue sky - and I quite regretted not having sunglasses as of course at this time of yer the sun is low

geranium leaves turning pinky orange - I saw them across the path and had to go see what was so bright

they look really striking against the bare earth

looking back across the length of the evolution garden

had to be quick with some of the photos as the sun was being hidden by fast moving clouds quite regularly

crossing through into the rock garden

the sun was reflecting on the waterfall 

another flush of blooms of anemones in the alpine house

such a pretty purple

this week you CAN see they are yellow!

the teeny narcissus taken from low down against the sky

as you may know I love the structure of the alpine house, especially brightly lit against a cloudy sky

then I went up to the Hive

large group of snowdrops under a huge tree alongside the Broad Walk 

crossed the path and walked across the grass in the sun towards the Palm House

in front of the Palm House is the waterlily house, huge backs of soil stacked up ready for re-planting for spring

Palm House thrown into sillhouette by the sun

one of the huge trees at the edge of the rose garden

I went into the Palm House from the "back door"  on the rose garden side 

large stag head fern overhead

coming out the pond side of the Palm House,  the dogwoods bright along the side of the pond

then heading round the path towards the Mediterranean garden and the witch hazels.  

taking advantage of the sunny day and the blue sky backdrop for the trees

overhead into the tree canopy

bright shadows on the equally bright grass

the yellow witch hazels are still in full flower, the orange varieties appear to be fading already

a couple I shared to FB from my phone (I don't do instagram)

hellebore clumps under the witch hazels

Temperate House 

progress update on the Silver Daisy Bush

sadly the barrier to the stairs to the upper walkway round the Temperate House was in place, so no view from on high this week

although at the stairs down from the upper level, no barrier in place, (although as it;s a one way system i suppose it doesn't matter)

it was looking striking in the sun though

pretty mauve flowers by the side 

it always surprises me that this is an erica (heather family)  but I love it's delicate flowers, a great mass of them

it's opposite this  (sparrmannia africana)

still looking good -  above head height 

from the doorway along the length

heading along the grass towards the lake via the Japanese Garden

on the lake crossing, someone was feeding the ducks/gulls causing a frenzy!

this was a bit snatched (was trying to be quick)

first shadow selfie of the year I think 

I walked a different path back to the Palm House for the exit

where as promised, the wind was buffeting the spray of the fountain - I should have taken a video on my phone!

blogger is reversing order again but this time I am cutting and re-doing!  

so you get the sequence in the right order and the spray changing 

couple from the phone

love the sky above

back to camera as I continued my route round the pond

out of the sun now so the effect isn't as impressive

but the effect of the wind on the spray is still implied

I didn't stop for food today, (although I did eat a hot cross bun as I walked round)  so decided to head for home- my right knee starts to ache after a couple of hours walking, it must be old age - so I called it a day

thanks for looking - make sure you come back next week as it's ORCHID TIME  !