warm and sunny Kew

 Yay!  sunshine and warmth this week!  a sandals, sunglasses and suncream day...  putting on the suncream made me forget my watch, I hate not wearing a watch!  

look at the gorgeous blue sky at 8am 

the further end of the Palm House beds have been emptied, getting ready for the summer display

the goslings were enjoying the sunshine 

walking round to the bed at the end of the Broad Walk

the fountain was on one of it's intermittent settings, but I didn't stop to change to the long zoom lens.. I intended to do so later

started down the Broad Walk part way

lilies will be out soon

I turned off the Broad Walk half way along and headed round by the top of the Rock Garden 

and into the Evolution Garden (heading for the poppies in the sunshine)

but first, these gorgeous huge alliums glowing in the sun

and a lovely pinky purple poppy by the way into the EG

the lighter ones were absolutely huge

the pergola covered in roses

and lillies in the beds by the corner

alstromeria lilies

I wish you could smell the roses!

I headed for the wildflower bed first, which runs alongside the outside of the student plots (there were some students in there watering their plots)

there were so many bees on these poppies, just hundreds

it is nearly all poppies at present, 

just the odd clump of cornflowers;  but it's such a beautiful shade of blue

student digging his veg

but I just love those poppies!

the rose pergola stretches the length of the middle of the EG

the veg beds are being planted,  you can't get in yet as they're not finished, it still has barriers round it, and will have low gates around the perimeter 

delphiniums in the Evolution Garden proper 

tall, statuesque, gorgeous

the California poppies weren't quite opened in the sun yet

but in the corner, a large patch of pinky purple poppies glowing in the sun

the oriental poppies were looking gorgeous

not so many bees on these ones, they were all on the other bed

flip!  blogger has reversed these next set...

at the end of the EG 

another pale mauve poppy

walking through the roses

the Rose Garden next... beautiful!!

it's really hitting it's peak now

lots of early visitors this week, enjoying the fragrance

heading for the lake, past the Breach, from a slightly different direction

lots of shadows on the grass

you get a good view of the "inside" (mirrors) and the outer planted section

a quick play time!   trying to fire the shutter with my left hand whilst stretching out my right to get the multi images in the mirrors

then towards the Pagoda

and along to the lake

where I walked through another large gaggle of geese - there are loads this year, more than ever

from the lake I walked back along to the Palm House

stopping at the other end of the Rose Garden to previously

saying nothing!

I stopped and had breakfast/elevensies (it was about 9.30 or so)

I only took this to check the camera was still working after I'd eaten as I managed to knock the camera off the top of  my bag onto the floor (the bag was on the floor too, so it was only a small drop)  

the information board tells you what the highlights are 

at this stage the camera is on the table but it was hot in the sun which is why I moved it

cake as well as croissant today!

it was 10 by the time I finished so I could go to the Temperate House

had to say hello to Helen and Matt on my way past

I love their feet!

I wish I knew why blogger keeps reversing the order of batches of pics...

tree ferns

big tub of dahlias

bamboo in the doorway

back on track... the silver daisy bush

once again the upper platform was out of bounds 

so I had to stick to the ground level

no problem that though

the passionflowers are starting to bloom in the south octagon

most of the bird of paradise have finished and have been tidied but a few remain

aoenium by the southern end doorway

I was walking round in circles today,  walking back past the huge Japanese dogwood

along the way back to the Palm House again!

trying to show the extent of the flowers in the rose garden

random shots on my walk through the Palm House

as I opened the door to leave the Palm House I noticed this patch of rust on the wall beside the door.  Fabulous texture and colour

roses between the Palm House and waterlily house

planting at the top of the steps by the entrance to the waterlily house (urn)

inside, the pelican flowers are out and grow so fast, 

I was pleased to see the cactus still had some flowers 

pitcher plant

there is always so much to see in the waterlily house

cactus flower, back lit

an American lady spoke to

me as I was taking these, saying she would be filling her phone with all the things she was seeing

she was enjoying her visit

as I walked past the end of the Palm House I  noticed the pot had been planted as well as the bed itself (probably missed it last week)

I took these on an earlier walk past this stage but can't be bothered to trawl back to find the right place time-wise.

mainly took them to show how much the goslings are growing, and losing their fluff!  

foxgloves in the shade on  my way round to the Princess of Wales  conservatory

flowers on the cacti outside the POW (it's sheltered under the overhanging glass so they stay out all year)

I knew I'd miss them between last week and this!

will miss these before next week too

the lily pads in here don't grow as big as in the waterlily house

small hibiscus,  bit blurry but couldn't resist including them for the water drops

I noticed a cactus I'd not seen before, by the door into the orchid room,  it's really tall and has loads of flowers coming,  bet I miss (or forget to look) them by next week

there is a new titan arum been brought into the POW (from the nursery)  starting to flower

thy're marking it's growth as usual

I really hope these are still there next week

not many orchids left now

the rock garden californian poppies are stunning

not a huge amount flowering in the alpine house this week that caught my eye

few shots of the rock garden

the aloes are flowering (and above)

I couldn't resist another look at the poppies

the sun had moved off these by now but they are still beautiful

as I walked past the delphiniums I noticed the pale smaller flowers at the edge of the bed were also delphiniums, i hadn't really stopped to look earlier.

there are so pretty!

some close ups of the mass of roses on one of the pergola cross bars

divine scent

white astrantia

then it was back to the Broad Walk 

my feet were aching - the sandals (which I wear a lot in summer) were making my feet ache as I'm not used to them again yet and they are quite flat 

you can just about see the bee in the centre

I was going to sit for a while before heading for the train 

huge peony by the Orangery restaurant (I had a few minutes spare before heading to the train to had a quick divert)

thanks as always for looking, hope you enjoyed the trip.