Photos by H: Kew started wet, but full of colour

Kew is allowing members in at 9 am for 3 weekends over half term and the kids event Room on the Broom so despite a dreadful forecast, off I went..

it rained whilst we were queuing to enter, but stopped (temporarily)

Kim's opening shot of my opening shot from an alternate angle this week

you can see the puddles!

I had dispensed with the bulky rucksack and used the old shoulder bag (I hate that bag) as I knew I wouldn't be wanting loads of lenses and the rucksack sticks out from the umbrella's shelter and gets wet....

still some decent reflections though

lots of colour round behind the Palm House beds

and the large tree at the corner of the Broad Walk

plenty of opportunity for rain drops today!

mass of red leaves along the Broad Walk

we hadn't bothered with the Room on the Broom activity sheet but thought we'd just find bits of the trail as we got to them.

there were sound effects by the dragon

tree near the Hive

leaves in the hedge round the Hive

the alpine house was open already

soggy kardoon in the rock garden

the seedheads look fluffy but as we found last week, they're not particularly fluffy

the acer at the junction of the rock garden/evolution garden was WOW

Kim getting in close

the pumpkin display has been moved out of the rain under the shelter in the veg garden

the mushrooms from last week seem more orangey

through the evolution garden

still couldn't get a decent shot of the berries on the mahonia

didn't see the tiny slug on the physalis till I downloaded it

they proved hard to photograph whilst juggling with the umbrella (even whilst not in use - but about now it started to rain again

we checked the porcelain berry shrub at the far end of the evolution garden - the berries are much further behind than on the one at the pavilion cafe - but the colour of the berries at this stage were beautiful

the rain was getting heavy....

we made our way back past the Princess of Wales conservatory - the rain reduced

berries on a shrub near the hive (we were retracing our steps)

smokebush tree leaves

the huge mushrooms near the weeping beech (I think I said birch last week) were still there

well camouflaged in the leaf litter!

under the branches of the tree was another Room on the Broom stop - we passed on the opportunity to dress up

callicarpa still looking good

another ROTB activity stop

close to the other entrance to the POW we watched a group of green parakeets in the tree.... all of a sudden a heron flew past and they all flew away - sadly neither Kim or I were ready for the shot!

I had been admiring the colour of the acer in front of the POW at the time..

and was changing lenses

it was 10 now so we went into the POW

we both thought this cactus looked as if it had been decorated with webbing for Halloween...

then into the rainforest tropical room (main area)

it looks like a deliberate soft focus image but it's luck, with the misted up lens not clearing

happy accident, I'm pleased with this one!

even in the orchid room there was misting up problems today, the lens cloth helped a bit

we came out of the POW and headed back towards the waterlily house and Palm House

snatching this maidenhair tree on the way

they'll be emptying the waterlily house for the season soon, but there were still a few flowers inside.

also a large group of Japanese schoolkids so we didn't hang around

the Yoshino cherry tress around the edge of the rose garden were looking good - must have a closer look next week

we did walk through the Palm House but all the photos were fogged up and no good...

this is the other end of the path round the rose garden

we headed for the Victoria gate cafe (shortly pursued by the school party..

it wasn't a day for sitting outside...

I had a slice of spicy apple loaf which was wonderful, Kim had a pecan

pastry

it was then time to head past the stunning trees near the Victoria gate

and possibly my autumn favourite

it looks better from this side

heading along Camellia walk but still checking out the colours on our right

the new path leading into the Winter garden has now opened so we took advantage.

witch hazel leaves

looking back down the new path

the new path takes you to the top of the curve of the Winter garden

looking over to the maples outside the gallery

blogger decides to choose it's own order..

no matter, it's all the same tree!

the sun was trying to come out!

this one is on the wonk, but shows the forthcoming exhibition

I'm sure I took some close ups...

(checked the camera, i did but forgot to select it to upload to computer . you'll have to wait for next week...)

I took this of Kim

taking me...

the old folly archway

trees by the pavilion cafe

can you guess what is coming next...

yep... drippy berries!

it's amazing how many different colours they go through

the other end of the pergola

we took the short walk to the Temperate House

cherry walk - looking good

look, blue sky!

at this point Kim told me to stand by the board directing people inside to the Rare and Extinct display in the octagons inside....

see the first step behind me? I was turning round to point to the board when I fell over, the step was closer to my foot than I thought. I ended up on my bum in the wet... going to have a BIG bruise tomorrow....

Kim kindly didn't capture me on the floor! luckily I held on to my camera and it avoided damage

time to go and check out the displays.

the first one we came to was the Room of Rarity

featuring plants and displays about critically endangered plants

as I saw this sign I said to Kim, that this was the sign we should be photographed by (as a bit of fun)

so she obliged

by now it was quite sunny!

(forecast, but for a bit later on, so we were lucky)

this tiny waterlily (barely the size of my finger) is a pygmy Rwandan waterlily

we walked through the central part of the TH

into the other octagon, the Room of Extinction

boards showing the work of Kew students and scientists

the boards will need more closely studying

but look at the sun shining through ha ha

heading to the exit,

banana

the other half of cherry walk

the weather was completely different now (luckily)

heading round to the davies exploration house

reflections in puddles

the strawflowers are starting to fade now

but there were still a few to admire

next, past the treetop walkway towards the lake

dappled sun on the posts of the walkway

the trees on the island in the lake lose their leaves very quickly

but still lots of colour.

had the wrong lens on for the reflections in the water

still some angry grey clouds over that way!

so I made do with the phone

as we crossed the lake and headed back towards the palm house

we came across a huge patch of mushrooms

they weren't large 'shrooms but there were loads of them

as Kim's action shot of me shows

as we were taking them we saw signs of the Halloween trail - first we'd come across

I am sure at night they light up and probably move and groan....

but there were quite a lot of them.

I've not seen a huge amount of what is included in the trail but as we walked on we saw more.....

we came to a "cemetary"

again, daylight not the right time to see them....

on top of the "entrance" to the cemetary

the trail takes you past the end of the azalea garden and some beautiful autumn colours in the acers.

the trail has netting to stop you going off the path

we came to another patch of funghi
still behind a rope from the trail so couldn't get closer

it's the same company that does Kew at Christmas

there were several skeletons hanging in cages above the side of the trail

we were close to the Children's playground now, and could see another path to the left with a huge pile of pumpkins but that will wait for another day

we headed back towards the exit