Kew

 There are 2 more weeks before the members 8am openings start... including today.

the end beds are now mostly devoid of tulips

but further along some still remain 

the tulips in the urns on the pondside are losing their petals but provide little windows into the centres

beds 

urns

stonework on an urn 

around the tulips in the urns

beds

round bed at the end of the path 

  the tulip tree at the top of the Broad Walk is coming into full leaf.  Called the tulip tree due to the shape of the leaves.

it's a lovely acid green 

down the Broad Walk, beautiful pink and white tulips 

lots of daffodils left too although further along they are dying off  

euphorbia 

this one had a piece of blossom in the middle of one of the cups,  obviously placed there deliberately as it was so carefully poised!  

dew drops

Kim was already getting me in shots!

trees in leaf in front of blossom filled trees

cutting across the grass towards the Princess of Wales conservatory

ginko 

this tree is lovely, but is really old and is being supported to keep it from falling apart 

the wisteria is starting to come out 

bluebells 

grevillea, in the princess of wales conservatory

orchids (camere was mis-behaving again today)

the pompom like flowers are fading 

huge leaves, so pretty 

went back to look at the littel passionflower from last week

trying to get the camera to play nicely,  forcing it to take shots!  quite like this though!

passionflower tendrils

looking from the upper level down 

on one of the pillars 

the plants had been heavily watered before opening time.

sunlight outside lit these beautifully,  not sure it really shows to it's best in this shot 

the jade vine so you can see the overall effect

bottle brush 

in magenta pink

love the knobbly bits!

and red!  

ferns

didn't check the label on this but it looks like lipstick tubes to me!  

in the carnivourous plant room,  additional planting 

they are all protected by chest-height glass so really hard to get your camera over to photograph

little fern unfurling 

fallen to the floor...

looking back at the jade vines from the other direction 

cactus - coming into flower.

these are also behind glass

as are these.  bet they've gone by next weekend

dinky little flowers

spiky stem with the pink flowers (above) on the top 

the label says it's a euphorbia  Corinne des Epines (which i  guess is spines)

by the exit at the arid end of the POW 

I love this big cactus

so photographed the board for you

it's spiky!

and there's lots of it!

a nearby plant coming into flower... 

then outside to the top path of the rock garden for my favourite bit of this season 

some of them are going to seed - which I love almost as much as the flowers

as they are fading I took loads again 

from every angle!  

outside the alpine house

inside...

one of the beds 

current fave in there 

scilla 

aloe

walking round to the evolution garden via the student beds, passed a pretty tulip

for the first time, the student beds were open

fruit trees being trained along the sides of the space

not much appearing yet but neatly dug over 

loved the painted plant pot on the top of the sticks at the edge of one bed, to stop you poking your eye out as you work on the bed 

not sure what fruit this will be but it's got gorgeous blossom

walking through the evolution garden

we came across another path of pasqueflowerrs

and a huge plant with delicate little blue flowers

I remember it from last year 

bleeding hearts 

translucent daffodils 

the gunnera is growing fast by the pond 

we topped at the cafe for coffee and cake (blueberry muffin)

we sat outside and the sun had come out,  there was a really pretty patch of cloud - I couldn't see the screen properly to know how I'd caught it 

then we headed for the woodland walk, (indirectly!) 

 

 

walking along the side of the Mediterranean garden

the path slopes down towards Cherry Walk

they've come on a lot since last week

the tulips under the cherry trees

we couldn't work out if there were less than last year, but as we walked along we saw lots more still to come out (they don't dig them up)

blogger is being a pain this week 

we criss-crossed the path

 for the best blooms

silver daisy bush

and whatever this pretty grey leaves pale purple flower is

another bottle brush

we didn't go into the main Temperate House today, 

these are the prunus trees the other side of the TH to cherry walk 

the sun caught it beautifully

we were both carrying out coats by now!

gravel garden at the Japanese gateway.

can't face re-ordering these 

heading for the woodland walk now finally

we walked round the newish boardwalk rather than straight through

 

blogger deciding my photo order again...

silver birch tree

nice tree trunks

back at the end of the diversion, looking along the main path through 

the daisy lawn - we weren't going to go this way but got drawn to it!

I could sense Kim taking this behind me! 

quick walk along the lake back to the exit

trees obscuring the lake lol   

the sun on the various greens was lovely

we walked through the mirrors 

there were quite a few other people there but didn't like to photograph them although it would have made a great picture 

Kim tried to scurry through...

I was glad I still had my camera out at the exit as the sun on these tubs of tulips was fabulous

although I did have to dash across the road again to catch the bus

luckily there were plenty of seats so I had room to put away the camera once I sat down.

Thanks for looking - sorry about the gaps that I suspect blogger has left !