Kew, the last early and some glorious sunshine

 The end of September rocks round and with it the last members early openings until next May. Thankfully, the weather was kind to us and we had beautiful light.  Enjoy (and your lie in next Saturday)

big shadows in the early sun, too 

I had nearly left the wide angle lens in my bag - this is from the short zoom

some of the planting in the urns are starting to look a bit leggy, I expect they'll be emptied for the season soon sadly

some amazing reflections in the water 

can't believe how long the dahlias are lasting.  they are beautiful 

down the Broad Walk. 

lots of green from the trees, not a huge amount else 

round on the grass side of the Broad Walk 

round to the Hive

towards the alpine house into the sun 

I can't resist the Carbon Garden mushroom

bug hotel in the Carbon Garden 

from this side you enter (or leave) the Carbon Garden through a planting of bamboo (just behind my shoulder as I was taking this)

round towards the grass garden 

asters with the alpine house in the background across the grasses 

across the waterlily pond to the grass garden 

alpine with POW 

fluff!!  bullrushes in the waterlily pond garden 

blogger is reversing now.

strawflowers in the veg garden 

grapes along the border of the veg garden 

most of the produce has been picked and some is on display 

they will use this in their cafes or often donate it 

back to the cutting flower bed along the front of the veg garden

looking from the rock garden entrance to the EG, through the rose pergola 

nerines

roses in the evolution garden far end

we walked it in a different order today

opposite the roses is a large passionflower shrub still with lots of blooms on 

back to the other side of the path,

nearly all of the echincachea and helenium are over now

whilst I was photographing the echinchea I nearly said 'let's go see how Phyllis (our nickname for the Physalis)  is doing... only to find it was a complete stranger... luckily I managed not to! 

anyhow, Phyllis is doing fine! 

from the path through the EG, 

took the path through the little woodland garden we saw a long swathe of funghi 

heading back towards the cafe for breakfast

gorgeous light through the trees,  doesn't quite show to the best in the photo

amazing reflections in the pond from this side too

bit further round the pond under the overhanging trees..

put the long zoom on 

I might have got a bit carried away with the reflections! 

blogger has reversed the order for you 

stunning!  

time for breakfast now

the free tea for members will be ending on Tuesday with the early opening too - it's been good though!

they had the  Paris Brest pastries again today

after we'd eaten we headed for the Of the Oak installation (it would have been the waterlily house but it wasn't open yet as still not 10)

past the end of the Palm House parterre beds 

and one of the pots by the steps to the Palm House 

trees and clouds beyond the rose garden

both Kim and I have loved this 

to start with we had it to ourselves to interact with the display

as we approached the benches this little fella popped out from the other side

not sure what it is, looks like some kind of gull.

it was quite shy and didn't hang around 

part of the installation screen 

I'll miss this!  

this is the oak tree that the installation is based on. 

we carried on towards the lake

the Lockerbie bench was recently removed for replacement and is now back looking fabulous

I left Kim sitting by the lake to feed some geese as she didn't want to see the installation in the Temperate House again and I did as today was sunny

crossing the lake 

more lovely reflections 

the tree stump near the treetop walkway was still surrounded by funghi 

through the doorway at the Temperate House

I started in the main section 

 blogger has put this in out of order 

but it's quite handy as it tells you about the display before I share the photos

it was much better taking pictures today with blue sky through the windows, as I had thought 

whilst these are fabric, they remind me a bit of the Dale Chihuly glass display from a few years ago 

next  southern octagon

I didn't take any close ups of the fabrics at the bottom today

tree in one of the beds 

northern octagon 

I still had the short zoom on 

the lotus flowers have been magnificent this summer 

no fashion close ups today (refer back to last week!!) 

came out of a side entrance at the back of the TH

huge holly tree

colchicums bathed in sunshine

down on the ground (nearly) 

back past the treetop walkway

light dappling through the trees (and walkway supports)

crossing back over the lake to re-join Kim

who had Bowie and the Egyptian geese family for company

several groups of Canada geese flew over the trees and onto the lake

these were the only ones I could get under the trees in time to sort of catch

we headed backs towards the Palm House

which was under some beautiful clouds

aeoniums outside the waterlily house (in a pot on the steps 

between the main door and the inner waterlily room

there was a bit more room to get round this week 

side planting 

I needed the lens cloth out really, luckily my top was quite soft and did the trick just 

light through the edges of the lily pads

more planting round the side 

lotus flower in the pond 

passionflower close up on the way out

other side of the steps, different aeonium, lol 

masses of berries on a tree outside 

a very big tree!

white Japanese anemone at the back of the Broad Walk as we crossed to head to the Princess of Wales conservatory

more berries outside the POW 

by the pond in the POW

more passionflowers in the POW 

planting settling in to the new area of the POW 

cyclamen in the alpine house 

little hyacinth - I don't usually like their fragrance but this was wonderful 

smell the roses  hyacinth!  

outside the alpine house  we noticed the california poppies were flowering again - 

this one looked like it was the agave flowering!

the path through the rock garden takes you through a little tunnel  and this was growing on top of it 

I didn't realise Kim was trying to take me against the red tree - she eventually had to tell me to stand still!

there were quite a few red acers in the rock garden 

we went back to the Palm House 

and inside this time 

it was the hottest I have felt it for ages 

I did get the cloth out this time

banana, anyone? 

half of the front door had been propped open so there was a nice breeze coming through here 

but we exited without walking through the rest of the house

outside and another lens change 

we sat on a bench for a few minutes before heading home

the weeping willow is round the side of the pond

final shot from the phone as I was packing up

thank you for looking -  see you next week, but at 10 so we all get to sleep later than 5 am! (hopefully)