Day at Kew Gardens

Charlotte and I had a lovely day at Kew today. The weather was beautiful - sunny and warm, but not too hot to walk about in. We travelled by train - it seemed a complicated journey with a change at St Albans and another at West Hampstead - but it was actually very easy. As we had train tickets we were able to get 2 for 1 on the entry to Kew - saving £14.50.

It looks stormy in this pic - but it really wasn't

These stairs went up to the balcony

The Palm House was our first destination - and it was spectacular with some inpressive plants and lots of information.

View from balcony

The Water lilly House was next - although much smaller, still full of spectacular lilly pads and flowers.

We then headed for the Tree Top walkway which involved climbing over 100 steps (we came down in the lift).
Charlotte discovered she doesn't like heights - especially as the walkway moved slightly - Jerry would be in agreement with her I am sure!
 The view was lovely - but probably better in the winter when no leaves on the trees.

Walkway up in the tree tops

View across to the Temperate House

Next we visited the Evolution House, which showed how plants evolved from the start of time to the present day, and the Temperate House which is the largest of the glass houses.

David Nash sculpture

 After all this walking and exploring it was time for lunch. We sat in the sunshine looking over the lake to eat it. There were so few people around despite the nice weather - which really surprised us!

View from lunch bench

After lunch we took a stroll in the other direction and visited the alpine house, order beds, rose pergola and then went to the Princess of Wales conservatory.  It was named after Princess Augusta, founder of Kew, and opened in 1987 by Diana, Princess of Wales. It is the most complex conservatory at Kew, containing ten computer-controlled climatic zones under one roof. We saw all but one zone - as the last one was closed to the public.

Princess of Wales Conservatory

Alpine House

You wouldn't think we could pack much more into our day - but we did! After a drink and an ice-cream to revive us we continued our exploration. Kew Palace and the Queen's Garden were next. The palace is about 400 years old but looks newly painted.
The Queen's Garden is very formal in a 17th century style, with a parterre enclosed with box hedges.

The staff dress in period costume

We followed the path round to the secluded garden - this was Charlotte's favourite.  It was beautifully laid out with little seats and poems to inspire thoughtfulness. In the middle was a water feature made from slate.

 
 












Next was the Duke's garden which was beautiful and much less formal, with drifts of planting.  I think this was my favourite garden - I loved informal mix of colour and texture.

 

Our day was nearly over, a slow stroll back to the Victoria gate ready to catch the train home. We both really enjoyed the day and would certainly go again in a different season.