Kew

 It started wet on my way to Kew.. luckily stopped, but was dull for most of the morning with a stiff breeze - welcome after last week's heat.   Enjoy....

look how grey it was....

aww!! hide under mum's wings she won't see us....

these two were cuddling up together

the bed at the end of the pond is filling out

bed at top of Broad Walk

down the Broad Walk

verbascum

love the lilies

bloody blogger is already reversing... ok. 

loads of bees everywhere

love the deep red allium hiding in the "fluff"

round the back of the bed it's easier to see the flowers - love this, it's like it's wearing a crown

phone shot

red achillea 

the other side of the path is a multi coloured pastel patch of achillea

and some echincea are out - love these beauties

they weren't out on Monday - things change so fast!

huge allium on our way round to the Kew Palace garden

Kew Palace garden

lavender

there were so many bees on this! 

at the top of the steps into the more formal garden

the round seat gave me an idea...

remember that iconic photo of the late Princess Diana at the Taj Mahal?!  

back on the path that leads down to the Elizabeth gate exit, one of the flower beds 

heading round towards the grass garden

where the wind was blowing the grasses all over

still very grey behind the alpine house

as I walked round the waterlily pond there were two ducks on the wall who jumped into the pond, then took off and flew away... I missed the female  

bulrush 

lotus flower

patterns in brickwork

companion planting in the student plots,

the cornflowers are still stunning

looking through the cornflowers to the marigolds beyond

she got me again!  

we tore ourselves away

and moved to the evolution garden 

raindrops (from earlier)  on petals 

gysophila 

echinops

the helenium in the middle bed are stunning of course

a bigger drift of echinops

more echinacea

crouching down!

santolina (cotton lavender)

and then another big drift of helenium

I love these frilly ones 

back up the other side of the EG beds 

yukka, covered in flowers 

roses on the pergola

would make an amazing backdrop for a wedding photo (not that I' m getting married!)

alstromeria

agapanthas further along!

they'll be fully  out soon 

double lily

the edge of the face sculpture, not taken any of her for a while

close up of her nose

and right eye! 

round by the palm house pond

daylily

crocosmia

hosta

astillbe

masking the Palm House

the phone puts both in focus! 

there was a grasshopper type insect on this flower,  the petal was in the way!  

we stopped for refreshments, I went for scone with jam and cream,  but it was a bit stale... I'm not a huge fan of clotted cream. but there was nothing else I fancied. 

we chatted to fellow regulars Patrick and Joyce whilst we ate,  then headed to the waterlily house

on our way round we noticed that the two slightly larger goslings were eating the flowers outside the Palm House

outside the waterlily house was the flower that they'd cut in half - it's lasted well 

as we went in, it was unusually empty (although not long after 10)

next one is from the phone, get more in shot

the gourd is changing colour

round the pond,  passionflowers  

reflections round the new lily pad

along the back wall of the house,  a curtain of passionflowers developing

round the pond

this beauty is hanging from the doorway into the waterlily house

it's a beautiful colour

we cut across the grass tothe Broad Walk and a gap between some benches to get to the POW 

pausing at he big drift of yellow achillea 

bank outside the POW

cacti outside, still with masses of flowers

this inside the rainforest section is flowering again

will be better when the sun shines on it 

underside of a lily pad in the pond

edge of the pad as it wouldn't fit in the photo

in the carnivorous room

more passionflowes in here too

this is still flowering upstairs too 

I took a photo of the sign that shows the life cycle for you 

upstairs on an arch, hiding in the leaves 

some orchids

they've done some more work on the arch in the orchid room, looks more like a tree trunk now

a red passionflower,  not sure what the white mark was on it

near the exit, some pinky-green aeoniums, very pretty

outside,  coleus in tubs

there wasn't masses in the alpine house that grabbed me today, apart from this 

(Angela, it's ptilotus manglesii)

and a slightly blurry allium

in the rock garden

at the lake now,  reflections of the ducklings - they are growing fast

one of the resident foxes wandered past

pigeons (flying rats!!) in the tree waiting for food - they associate people with feeding them 

lots of geese on the water

and some more babies!  I think these were moorhen

silver daisy bush

not sure what this is,   pretty mauve flowers on grey stemmed bush

Temperate House proper,  the grass tree

looks like long hair

ferns

bit of sunlight now! finally

heading towards the Japanese garden  blue sky behind the Pagoda

wildflowers (purple loosestrife??)  

round an old tree stump

hydrangeas now...

there are loads more to come so we'll be back another week!

tree top against a cloudy sky

the grey makes a good contrast for the yellow tips to this 

we sat on the bench by the small pond half way to the lake 

and watched the coot in front of us - her babies were across the other side of the pond calling to her (or maybe it;s him) 

a red admiral landed on the path but I was in the wrong position and of course it moved immediately

fluffy bulrush

as we continued to the top of the lake Kim noticed a kite stuck in a tree

another nest on the lake

we walked round the lake again towards the exit

pausing briefly at the Palm House beds.

thanks for looking, hope you enjoyed today.

see you next week!