Oct 25 - Kew Gardens

 I learned something today.  If you plan Tube or rail trips on the weekend, make sure you have a backup plan, because TFL (Transport for London) schedules a lot of maintenance on the weekends and you may not get too much advance notice of closed lines that affect your plans.  Both my morning and afternoon plans were thrown out.  I might write up some notes about the commuting adventures and include them at the end of today's blog. 

I made it to Kew with less than an hour delay.  For some bookings this would be a problem, but not for Kew.

Probably the most famous site at Kew is the Palm House, viewed from the large pond in front of it.  It was built in 1844.  The old iron and glass structure is showing its age and there is a planned major renovation in 2027.  Apparently, some of the prelminary work has started.

A better view, as I approach

There are some spectacular photos and more information on their website
Kew - Palm House

Standing guard as approach the Palm House are these fellows - the 'Queen's Beasts'

Here's the 'Chief Beast' (my term), not in the above photo

Before we enter, a word of caution:  I am as botanically challenged as they come, so I'm not even going to attempt to describe a plant, unless it is perfectly recognizable.  I'll include a few photos of inside.

This is a typical view of plants inside

Stairwell to a walkway above

Up on the walkway

This might be a mahogany tree.  I say 'might' as the tags
aren't necessarily perfectly placed.

I can say, with almost complete confidence, 

that this is a Banana Tree

I've exited the Palm House and this is one of the areas adjacent.  The open space around Kew Gardens ranges from carefully tended lawns to rougher, almost bushy areas.

These are called the 'Great Broad Walk Borders,'

about a kilometer of border plants carefully selected to 

thrive and complement each other 

I started late tonight and it is later now.  I don't have anything scheduled tomorrow, so I should be able to get the rest of today's story done.

Good morning.  Looks like a nice day, so I'll get out in a bit.

Here's a link to a Kew map:  Kew Gardens Map

Click on it and it should open in a new window, enabling you to flip back and forth to follow my meanderings.  The heavy yellow line more or less around the perimeter is a land train you can take, which I didn't.

I'm in the Oak Collection now (near the top of the map, just under the words River Thames) and I run into

All Hallows' Eve!

It looks like Kew goes all out for the occasion.

Into the Rhododendrons now.  A wide shot, to show you how large they've gotten

And, interesting comments about Rhodos

Into the Bamboo Garden

Crossing the little lake in the middle of the map,

 a rather pleasant view

Engineering moment!

This is the bridge across the lake, with a most interesting railing 

(at least to me)

Without a top rail, I wonder whether it would be 'code legal'

in Canada

More engineering - I'm now heading for the treetop walk

108 steps up (and down).  There is also an elevator.

Views from the walkway.  In terms of species, the best I can do is

'pretty green tree', 'pretty brown tree', etc.

Hey, I got this one - 'pretty dead' tree.

My last photo from the Treetops - the Temperate House,

where I'm heading next. It is almost twice the size of the Palm House

The Wollemi Pines.  When Laura and I were in Australia (last century),

 the Aussies were just beginning to take the survival of this species seriously.

Here's a map of whats inside the Temperate House.  I'll just give you a tiny sample

There were a number of displays describing how Kew has helped restore almost extinct species.

Up the spiral stairs and a view from the top walkway.  The bright coloured flags in the middle are part of a temporary display called "Material World," which explores connections between plants, textiles and sustainability.

A corner of the main gallery.  Sorry, I can't tell you much about the plants

Except this one!  It's Aloe Vera

OK, I read the sign 😕

Another survivor

In the Weston Octagon is  this, part of the Maretial World Exhibition

One more photo of the Temperate House as I left

Here's the Great Pagoda.  As I walked up to it, I saw the sign on the door "Closed for the season."  No stairs to climb here.

From here I headed across the gardens, to the area lower right on the map.  On the way were signs referencing "Zog."  Eventually, I found Zog

This was another temporary exhibition, With a bunch of activities for children promoting the theme, "Working together."

The Peony garden - a bit sad this time of year.  No doubt spectacular in May.

I'm now in the Agius Evolution Garden.  Something for you to try is scanning the QR code for more info.

A couple more photos from these gardens

Seasonal fruits and vegetables and Kew's advice on planting times

The Rock Garden

The last big section of my tour:  The Princess of Wales Conservatory.  One thing I really liked was that each gallery was named on the door as you entered (from either direction), so you understood the theme of the gallery.  So, I'll just put a title up with a photo or two underneath.

Temperate Ferns

Tropical Ferns

Tropical Orchids

Temperate Orchids

Tropical Rainforest

Arid

That's it for my Kew gardens trip.  Per my GPS, I walked almost 8 km on this tour.

It's past 11 a.m. for me so I'm going to end it there and spare you the agony of my commuting hell on the way home.

I'll try to answer questions unless you want the Latin name for some obscure plant in some photo.    😏

Greg