Kew

 The journey to Kew today was disrupted by a bus on diversion due to Richmond being closed for a police incident... but I made it in time for opening

there was even a hint of blue sky as we entered (not in the forecast)  

which made for pretty images of the pond

with some good reflections

took the globe lens out for an airing too

still lots of colour in the trees

round by the Hive

still found these pittosporum we saw last week, fascinating

 

pretty leave patterns.   alpine house

agaves in the rock garden 

love the shapes and colours

berries on something at the edge of the vegetable garden

artichoke

found some water drops on some big leaves

pretty leaves on a spiky berberis

gorgeous berries

skeleton leaves

patterns..

fennel

echinops.  didn't see the web till I downloaded it

dewdrops on a soft leaf

it almost didn't look like water, but part of the leaf.  so I ran my finger through it to check... luckily enough drops left to photograph!

the cardoon is keeping well

so are the berries

palms  

agapanthas seeds

rose hips

nasturtium flower

then I got a bit carried away down the salvia border 

there were tiny little dew drops on some of them, really hard to capture.  looks like glitter frosting

trying to get the pink and purple ones together

ok,  tearing myself away....

another favourite, the sculpture of the face

the leaves make such great shapes with the cut outs

nose and lips

mwah!!  

then past the pond -  they are proving me wrong this year with the fountain being on whilst the Christmas event takes place.  I haven't seen any photos from the event yet so I don't know what the light show on the pond is this year 

after a quick whizz round the shop  (didn't stop at the cafe)   Didn't get any Christmas presents either but got some Christmas pudding flavour chocolate and fudge for me,  and a couple of new Christmas tree ornaments, not that I have a tree to put them on...

it was passed the Chittamwood tree - fading further now

but still looking good 

along camellia walk past some more gorgeousl colour on the right

the ttrees near the gallery

look at the colour on this maple!

little flower in the newly created area (doesn't seem to have a name)

the leaves belonging to the flower are very pretty too

grasses with the maple tree in the background

then we went down to see the tree close up

the breeze kept blowing as we tried to take close ups

we carried on...

lots of leaf litter, they were a bit too wet to scuffle nicely!  

into the light..  sillhouetted...

or not...

headed up the muddy walk towards the Pagoda

have to remember to turn for the view behind me...

tiny mushroom in the leaf litter under a tree -  we saw them last week too

mahonia leaves turning red... not sure they normally do...

the mahonia flowers

we came across the peacock again, in more or less the exact spot he was in last week

at the Japanese garden, with the Pagoda behind the beautiful tree

callicarpa berries in front of the raked gravel 

I had intended to leave about this time (it was nearly noon), to avoid getting caught in traffic/bus diversions  but decided to stay a bit longer

as we neared the lake, we saw these birds in the top of a tall tree.  Two ladies were watching through binoculars and told us they were redwings..

we walked past the mirrors without going to play 

sunlight through trees...

the low sun made for some interesting photos at the lake when Kim stopped to feed the geese (although mostly pigeons!) 

the pair of swans were there today, too

we then walked past the Treetop Walkway towards the Temperate House

no time to climb up the walkway this week,

at the back of the Temperate House we saw two "trees" 

hanging with little tags - 

Prince Edward came to Kew this week with the President of South Africa who was in the UK on a State visit, (I saw a short film on Kew's FB page of them getting out of a car in heavy rain outside the front of the Temperate House)

They also showed the President tying something on a tree -  one of these

There is a box of tags to the side for visitors to do the same.

They read,  Protect Our Plant,  Protect our Trees, and other slogans. we were lucky to get some blue sky for the backdrop to this photo

I had wanted to see how this was doing, it is one of my favourites in the TH at this time of year

I was one side, Kim was the other... 

the tempranillo tree tomatoes are back

as we rounded the corner near the stairs up to the viewing platform, we saw. this.

couldn't see a label.. very pretty though

it was quite tall and lots of flowers

nearer the exit.. palm leaves  lit from above.. fallen leaves sitting on top

banana 

every time it reminds me of Minnie Mouse

as we walked back down the path towards the exit, we saw this run across the path in front of us, and another couple who'd stopped to watch

I cropped it to cut out the superfluous grass

I think it might be a Muntjac deer... I've seen one in the gardens once before

it hopped and jumped off up the slope and away, wasn't hanging around that's for sure

It was a lovely way to end the visit.

just paused at the exit to snap a "bauble selfie" again in the Christmas tree

the journey home was also disrupted by the diversion through Richmond, though not as bad as first thing,  but still a slow trip home.

Never mind, it was a lovely visit as always, and the weather better than expected.

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed the photos.