Kew -

 We had a nice chat with an American couple in the queue this morning, who's trip to the UK had been extended by the delays caused to their return  flights by Hurricane Milton.  I hope they enjoyed their day at Kew!

the forecast was for showery heavy rain, which luckily limited itself to about 5 minutes whilst we were there.

but there wasn't a lot of blue sky this week!

the big Marc Quinn in the centre of the pond has gone

the big tree at the end of the path is looking more autumnal each week

but the ones at either end are still awaiting removal 

seedheads, along the Broad Walk 

Princess of Wales conservatory,  we followed the route that had just been watered! 

you could smell these today for yards away!

nerine in the alpine house

giant kardoon in the rock garden, the seedheads look fluffy but are quite stiff 

the acer at the junction of the rock garden/salvia border is much redder this week

there are some larger nerines in the evolution garden

globe artichoke in the veg garden

I was about to say to Kim that their mushroom beds didn't seem to be very successful - then saw these (Velvet Shanks)  at the back...

but on the whole, there aren't many that have grown yet 

against the shelter in the middle of the veg garden are some trees in pots - the gorgeous leaves on this sent me to look for the label - it's an apricot. 

I don't remember it fruiting in summer

zinnia

twizzly tendril on a vine

looking toward the acer

evolution garden.

berberis

mahonia. 

it's got purple-blue berries but I couldn't get close enough for a good shot

I had a fight with my camera to get photos for a while....

my favourite little daisy like flowers

they are starting to clear the beds in this part of the garden now, the helenium have been cut back hard

the larger asters are still looking good

this was pretty, but couldn't find what it is called

the giant kardoon at the end of the Evolution Garden have been cut back and the gardeners have left the seedheads on the ground.

i moved one to the foot of the statue! 

hosta

the tree outside the other end of the POW 

definitely need blue sky!  

we had almost forgotten the callicarpa and as we went towards them one of the resident foxes crossed in front of us

this weeping birch is huge and Kim had gone for a closer look - thought I had taken this before she came into view

Kim called me over as I hadn't seen these

these ones were quite domed, look like little pixie houses!  

under another tree a little further on were some much smaller ones

and some orangey red ones 

we crossed the Broad Walk and walked under the trees (wet grass, wet feet - must buy some waterproof boots this winter!) 

along the grass side of the Broad Walk beds

pine

more lovely leaf colour

there are a whole group of trees 

which look glorious

last week in the sun they were spectacular but today the colours despite the grey day have intensified

we headed towards the lake and came across more mushrrooms

these were large ones again

the reflections in the lake were gorgeous 

as we reached the davies exploration house it started to rain, but luckily not much

the trolley was still in the way of the strawflowers but we had room - just - to squeeze past it!

we crossed the path and went into the Temperate House

the trees in the foreground were turning red, but the sky was interesting

australian tree fern stems

new ferns unfurling

a hint of sun through a window lit this up

outside, the cherry trees were turning 

the grass that the tulips are planted in, in spring, has been cut now 

we headed across to the Pavilion cafe for a drink 

this tree was half yellow/gold leaves and half still green. It looked like 2 trees in one

trees outside the cafe fence

we sat under the awning outside,  it was almost sunny  - and warm - now.

I had hot chocolate, but no croissant -  it was noon now.

we had to check the berries before we moved on

whilst we'd been drinking we'd heard a dad tell his young daughter about some mushrooms he'd seen - but she was more excited by the automatic doors to cafe!

heading back toward the gallery

outside the gallery (which is closed for the next exhibition to be installed) 

we saw some of the pieces for the next event -  Expressions in Blue - giant porcelain artworks made (over several years) especially for this event - by Felicity Aylieff.  

there are going to be several inside too, it opens on 26 October and runs until March next year.

we've been reading on the Kew website and in the magazine about it and it sounds fabulous! 

from a distance they look like huge candles

obviously you can't get up close or they'd get damaged

back at the Victoria gate, the cotinus are starting to show off in true autumn glory

which is where we leave Kew for today  - thanks for looking. 

I will be editing with Kim's candid shots later but she's having trouble sending them from her computer!  

thanks for looking - 

next week, it's half term and there is a bonus 9am start for a couple of weeks to enjoy the Room on The Broom trail (based on the book by Julia Donaldson)  (we will probably give the trail itself a miss)  so it's an earlier start again.