Kew in the sun

 Today started cold but was lovely and sunny

we headed around the back of the Palm House to see the Yoshino Cherry trees lining the path by the rose garden first 

they were looking fabulous, and the sun and blue sky helped of course 

the blossom is short-lived and the wind had already blown lots of flowers off the trees onto the ground underneath, so you're getting lots of photos! 

Palm House in the background

then it was the short walk to the magnolias.

a little squishy underfoot still, more so in some places than others

 

again,the floor was littered with fallen petals 

the pink varieties seemed to have fewer flowers than the white ones 

there were still lots of daffodils 

and the cherry trees near the magnolia glade were stunning again.

the ground was too muddy to put the bag down to change lens to give a sense of scale of the trees

there was a pink magnolia with some huge flowers blown open 

this one, wide open, making it look huge

the ground round this bed was extremely squishy

had to tilt this one up to take this 

off to the lake - it was quite quiet today not many birds about

the irises are growing fast though

always some Canada geese chattering away though

we headed past the crossing and carried along the lake 

lots of geese chilling in the sunshine 

and a chilling mallard 

at the far end of the lake I spotted this heron, it looks quite small, must be a younger one. 

as I still had the zoom on i use for wildlife I could get lots of the trees in 

start of the woodland walk 

there was a young boy and his Grandad watching this, but he was quite excited so the birds didn't stay long

the tits flit about very quickly anyway, you have to be very quick!

no sign of Goldie though

carrying on through the trees 

this jackdaw was on the top of the tree we call the bear,  watching 3 crows fighting at the foot of a nearby tree

crossing a path I saw this patch of blue round some daffodils... paused to put the macro on

not sure what they are, other than pretty!

me struggling to stand up again - it's so much easier getting down than up, especially if you don't want to put your hands on the muddy ground ...

more blossom, on our way to the cafe for tea

there was as queue for tea and cake but eventually ...

I had the last slice of lemon drizzle 

we sat on a raised platform in a different area outside the cafe

this was just the other side of the fence

then off to the Temperate House

ivy

back at the rose garden/cherry trees 

work on the refurbishment of the waterlily house has started 

passing the end of the palm house beds

magnolia near the Hive

this is the one opposite the Hive

some of the flowers have suffered in the wind and rain 

the Princess of Wales conservatory was re-opened after the dismantling of the Orchids.  Sometimes they leave some of the tubs behind, but this year they've all been removed

Alpine House

this tulip looked better in the flesh, the sun was shining through the petals. 

walked through the  evolution garden, starting to come back to life

still looking good this week 

It was a real treat to have sun all morning, and it ended up feeling pleasant after the initial chill.

Thanks for looking, see you next week!