Kew- a bit different this week

 So last was lovely sunshine... this week was wet...

who needs a lawnmower!  

they were drinking from the puddles

raindrops on the stem of a drooping allium 

the flower was overhanging the path

down the Broad Walk as the rain started again 

this was just after it had blown inside out!

i was having to juggle the camera trying to keep it inside a clear bag to keep the rain off;  the umbrella and the wind...

it was a tricky morning !

the yellow being set off quite well by the grey sky though! 

some nice colour combinations along the Broad Walk

some fading alliums battered by the rain

eryngium at the end of the Broad Walk 

monkey puzzle with raindrops!

echinacea in the bed along the end of the grass garden

crocosmia

walking along the evolution garden,  sweet peas 

as we walked round the EG,  I managed to knock a setting on the camera and we decided as it was pouring with rain to head for the cafe very early to sort it out

turned out I had managed to turn it to a continuous shooting timer setting.... I blame not having enough hands to operate in the weather conditions 

Whilst we sat (inside today, no chance of outdoor eating!)  and sorted the camera out, the rain stopped so we headed back round towards the Evolution Garden to pick up where we'd left off.

we went round the back of the palm house pond

giant gunnera living up to their name

as we past the new bed of hosts next to the gunnera we noticed they (unsurprisingly given the weather) have had a slug problem as the hosts were looking a bit holey! 

right, back at the evolution garden...

I took this by mistake as I was trying to focus on the white.. but I like the achillea behind

the helenium were looking good, if wet

the rain enhances them I think.

the front petals on this one had fallen off, it looked like a cross section (albeit a bit out of focus)

some very wet sweet peas 

veg garden companion planting 

back past the sweet peas 

wet clematis

agave in the rock garden (the one that is flowering)

it was trying to rain again...

in the alpine house..  this lily has had a pollen explosion but what a neat pattern 

we were dodging about - this is the rock garden

then by the palm house pond

before heading to the POW where we sat on the bench (under shelter although the sun came out for about 10 minutes)

until it opened at 10

in the tropical part of the POW  

always love this when it flowers but had a real battle with the lens fogging,  cloth in continual use to clear it

underside of a lily pad

love the red of the lily pad

from the other side of the pond

these were tiny

there's another titan arum growing - they must have loads of them in the nursery they keep wheeling out!

bet we miss this one too, the growth chart is already out in front of it which usually means they expect it to open before long 

got it all in using the phone 

I was on tiptoes leaning over a perspex barrier.... 

euphorbia

crossing the Broad Walk on our way to the lake 

the small pond along cedar vista leading from the lake toward the pagoda

we were in search of hydrangeas as Kew's social media sites told us they were looking good....

this one

had a kind of furry stem 

the rain got harder here so it was juggling time again  so the next few aren't brilliant...

there didn't seem to be many flowering yet, and some looked as if they were quite young plants, so maybe they've replaced some since last season

we headed to the davies exploration house and the strawflowers

it was empty as we went in, within 5 minutes several people came in so we knew it was raining hard again!

my former favourite!  

we headed out and dashed across into the Temperate House which was also busy with people sheltering!

these lovely daisy type flowers have been great, 

and now they have lovely "fluff"  (Kim and I both like "fluff"

aeonium

nice patterns

fern

I don't know what this tree is but it has dangly bits!

At this point we decided to call it a day (it wasn't that much earlier than we often leave)  as we had had enough of getting wet!

Thanks for looking, and see you next week... wonder what we'll have then...snow maybe?!