Kew - frosty in the sunshine

 This morning at Kew, was glorious - freezing cold (a long wait with Kim at the gates) but beautifully sunny which made everything sparkle and shine and once we got inside, forget about the cold.

Back to lots of photos, so sit back and enjoy...

so nice to see blue sky again after what seems like several weeks of grey and wet. 

frost not snow on the ground. 

I'm cheating a bit with my opening shot as this was actually the first one today.

it seems they are having to hold the top of their gate together with big rods!  although it looks tome as if it is the piece on the right they should be bolting together!

 and we could play shadow pics for Julia!  

ok, so back to the walk round...

just love the reflections on the pond - frozen again to at least halfway across. 

the urns along the pond will be empty for some time, probably till the summer bedding goes in

the dogwoods just shine in the sun, they are so bright! 

icy primulas

but the sun was already melting the frost on the leaves where it was hitting from the left 

we walked past the end of the pond towards the Broad Walk

the round bed at the top of the Broad Walk was full of frosty plants

the Broad Walk was white with frost too

the hellebores at the top of the Broad Walk had suffered in the cold.  I hope they recover

playing shadow pics again

the euphorbia along the left hand side were glistening,  but the frost was melting

whilst on the right hand side, the frost was still much heavier - more protection from the sun from the trees 

the the display with the planting scheme was covered too- love the pattern, the white dots pinpointing the plants look like stitches in am embroidery pattern

we headed round towards the Evolution Garden via the Hive

grasses in the sun

the hedge along the path by the Hive is mostly cut back but there were a couple of stray tall spikes left

still loving the blue sky!

the secluded garden where we saw the icicles int he last really cold spell....

topped with dogwood

puddles had frozen and the ice been trodden on and snapped

sadly, the water was off so there were no icicles today

frosty growth on the border to the stacks

I stood on tiptoe to see a puddle of ice in the top of one of the shorter stacks

as we passed the (closed) Princess of Wales conservatory 

Kim saw the water drops on the end of this palm

and a frozen table top.

not sure many people would be eating outside today

the grass garden was mostly in full sun

pockets of frost remained on some of the grass

but the blue sky makes up for frost

the eucalyptus tree was creating a wonderful reflection in one of the waterlily ponds 

frosty lichen on the wall of another waterlily pond

which was fully frozen

quick look in the alpine house

gorgeous patterns on the leaves

gorgeous little iris

looking through the glass to the blue sky beyond... the frost is melting on the panes

outside, the sun was shining through these leaves

and there were lots of bullrushes..

these ones a bit too far into the bed by the water to get close to

these tiny leaves had such a pretty frost pattern on them

we started to walk further into the Rock Garden

where another group of bullrushes close to the path were much more accessible

fabulous!  

bending down to incorporate the sky again!

got to make the most of it...

this is looking so sad from the frost!  but I love the shapes of the leaves

then on into the Evolution Garden

the seedheads of the agapanthus

sun through everything...

whilst the beds have largely been cleared or cut back,. the frost still grabbed my eye

and the hydrangea still in skeleton mode

the rose pergola seems to undulate ... not noticed that before

plants cut down to allow re-grrowth. frosty pipes stick above ground!

the beds that are full of colour in summer, cut down and emptied....

won't be long till it starts to grow again

but it looks so empty!  

some seed heads remain,

was hard to see against the sun to catch these (not said that for weeks!)

crossing the path back to the top of the Rock Garden

more frosty leaves

but such gorgeous colours

the sun was catching the face from behind

sparkly frosty fern

outside the Princess of Wales,  the frost has taken it's toll...

a prickly pear cactus doing ok though

the leaf was hard to the touch , brittle.

I hope they survive

apparently this is a yucca called  Adam's Needle  

I don't know if the spirals are needle sharp , didn't touch them!  

another cactus, covered in spikes!

didn't touch them either!!  

I had packed the long zoom as I knew it was meant to be sunny so was hopeful for fountain photos!!

you can see where the moving water from the splash of the fountain has stopped the pond freezing 

whilst I had the long zoom on I zoomed into the redwoods along the path

and across the pond

moving round the path, another shot of the junction between ice and water 

and able to get the whole tree at the side of the pond,  zooming back out again 

so amazing what the sun does to a photo!!  

there were gulls slipping about on the edge of the ice

we went into the loo by the side of the pond (as the one near the cafe is closed) and bumped into Lynda, the other regular who we've not seen for ages - turns out she's recovering from Covid and not long been up to going out.

Was lovely to catch up

this is the deliciously scented shrub I've been trying to get close ups of.  Today I went for the whole thing, in the sun.

I took this by mistake as I was having trouble taking photos (or at least, it turns out I was taking them now I see them in download it was just the camera not displaying them to me)

Anyhow, I like the pattern of the branches making a border round the sky...so quite lucky

this was the one I knew I'd got, 

love bare branches.

We headed into the cafe for something to eat and drink..

no cheese and mushroom croissants available today,so sausage roll again, and hot chocolate

yummy though.

we were lucky to get a seat inside, the tables were mostly full

we didn't linger long, but headed out into the sunshine,

to the Winter garden

some small euphorbia, frost melting

so nice droppage!  

the path slopes up to the top (and I forgot to take the photo I promises)

the hellebores were being camera shy mostly

blogger has reversed some now...

I did take one of one of the beds sloping up to the top,  dogwoods and witch hazel yet to come out

witch hazel at the top...

back at the bottom, on the lower slope, the yellowy creamy hellebores

crossed the grass towards the Temperate House - looking down the vista to the Palm House

we entered the Temperate House - no need to dodge rain this week

I swapped back to my standard short zoom for some sun through leaves photos...

palms looking gorgeous

in the first octagon a tub with a large camellia

I was still on the standard lens for now so no close ups

another tub

into the central section

not sure what these are the roots of, but fab shapes

then turned down the path behind the waterfall 

and the fabulous tree ferns

Kim getting up close

have to look up

and down

and up again

then swapping to the macro again

looked for a label and realise it is a salvia! (doh!)

still flowering madly

part of the stairs 

more sun through leaves...

aloe

another aloe in a tub 

with webs!

most of the flowers on the erica have gone since last week, the lower ones anyhow

impatiens

seem to have failed to get very good shot of this

it's at the base of one of the false banana plants, never noticed it before.

it's called knowltonia vesicatoria (what a mouthful)  

as we rounded the next corner we heard the robin again

it waxs in roughly the same place as last week,  silhouetted in the sun....

but obligingly he came closer

and closer

watching us watching him

we then headed back along the central path towards the exit

I can't often find the label with it's latin name but Kim's plant identifier says this is African Hemp!  who knew...

tub by the door out

and out into the sun... the temperature had increased to a balmy 5 degrees C by now... felt almost warm!!  

headed past the Treetop Walkway (lift glistening, still not in action but looks finished... )

to the lake...  

which was frozen.  

gulls on the ice 

such colours and reflections

blogger knows it's teatime so I;'m not going to correct the order.

there was an area of open water around the crossing for the swans

changing lens,  the birds looked as if they were glued in place..

the femail duck was paddling on the semi frozen patch at the edge of the ice

but this male looked as if he was frozen in situ

we noticed a foz running alongside the lake, watched by lots of people, and then he ran onto the lake 

he didn't seem to have any issues with sliding and ran along until he climbed back on land and along the other side of the lake...

he had a big audience.

foxes in London are common sights, but we don't often see them at Kew in the open

sun on the ice on the lake 

we headed off,  towards the mirrors

another puddle that had frozen and been stomped on... 

a pair of Egyptian geese where chattering to one another and walked along side us...

our shadows adding to theirs and the tree 

now for fun before leaving!  

another Egyptian goose and a crow also playing!

they look so good in the sunshine

condensation patches on some panes from the frost 

sadly both Kim and I missed the goose's next action -  seeing it's reflection it squared up to his "rival" and flapped it's wings... would have loved that shot

Kim sent this one of me trying not to fall over in the mud...

heading off across muddy frozen leaves...

it's not often I have the standard zoom on at this stage... love the trees against the sky

Palm House from the rose garden

and back where we started.

what a gorgeous visit, whilst we got very cold waiting to get in, it was so worth it and we weren't cold by the time we left.

Did have a long journey home as I had long wait for both my buses ...

Thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed the walk as much as I did.  Same time, next week!!