My early morning trips to Kew will now be starting even earlier thanks to the new rail timetable.. This morning I woke at 5am (un-necessarily, I just woke early!) but hey ho...
It was quite dull to start with as I arrived at 8... we even had a few minutes rain at one point.
But, the colour... oh the colour!!
the newly replanted parterre is my normal starting point
strong colour scheme for summer
across the other side of the path, the circular bed full of alliums is spectacular
got side-tracked by the rose garden at the back of the palm house, the early varieties are looking good (more later!)
headed down the grass with the Pagoda in the distance
a huge tree full of blossom caught my eye...
I ducked under the weighty branches for the label- Japanese Dogwood...
next to it, another huge tree covered in smaller flowers... Japanese Snowbell...
and the Chinese Fringe Tree
luckily the rain whilst I was admiring these white beauties didn't last long...
but made for good closeups!
a huge wiegela japonica shrub bursting with blossom
back in the rose garden, the smell was amazing.
rain stopped now!
it was warming up, time to shed a layer
back at the other end of the palm house, more alliums, I can't resist them!
loving the yellow underplanting
the circular bed at the head of the Broad Walk has different coloured (wallflowers?) underneath
I walked down the Broad Walk. More alliums.
salvia (I think)
white alliums in big drifts
I spent ages and loads of photos trying to capture the bees on these
the macro lens doesn't focus very fast so I kept missing them!
but I love all the purples in the Broad Walk
it's my favourite colour!
geranium
I walked over to the bed beside the Orangery restaurant to inspect the pink and purple (peonies and iris)
these rich purple iris are beautiful!
crossing back across the grass, I was off to the Hive and the wildflower meadow, but this tree stopped me (forgot to look for the label)
but I love the dark purple leaves against the flowers
another huge tree (locust)
stopped to photograph the figures on a stone urn before I got to the Hive...
from the Hive I went to the POW (outside only, not open yet) where I spent another age and lots of blurry photos of bees again...
this one's ok though!
Peony time now...
the white ones were enormous
more gorgeous iris
poppies...another favourite.
sun wasn't out yet, they're better with the sun shining through the petals...
epic fail to capture the bees...
two on this poppy, tumbling around on the petals
heading through the shady woodland walk, love this meconopsis (himalyan poppy) saw some great ones on the Chelsea Flower Show coverage on tv this week, notoriously hard to grow, but they're ok here at Kew!
more Iris by the pond opposite the Palm House..
several family groups of geese walked by... twins...
triplets - bigger!
and two teeny weeny cute balls of fluff!!
so small they kept falling over!
the gunnera isn't teeny weeny! growing apace
after coffee and cake it was time to head to the Temperate House....
events being laid on today (and for the rest of the summer at weekends)
I still love these large tubs of daisies, and the yellow ones are fabulous now
I got carried away but there is still so much more to come, I'll limit myself to two...
view from the top again
closeup of the waterfall from above
sun playing on the structure
put the ultra wide angle on...
great distortion...
stairs down.. yes, that's my feet
it may be my imagination but I am sure they're all growing fast already in here...
ok, I lied more daisies! different pots, actually!
this grating should be a stencil!
sat on a bench inside the TH to wait for the first "event"
still love the structure of the place..
ah, here he comes! Gnomus... a giant puppet, a family fun event (I enjoyed it too)
He's manipulated like Joey, the War Horse from the stage play/film and the puppeteers tell a story of the plants in the TH... it was really entertaining and educational as well...
we followed him around for a while
after his first tour I popped out to get some water and sit in some shade for a while....
but Gnomus was back, to tour the Australian end of the TH so I tagged back along
some of the tiny children weren't quite sure however....
time for event 2. Cirque Bijou... aerobics and music... I staked my place (it's on every weekend till 2 September, on the hour from 12.30 - next time I think I'll join the crowds on the walkway above the TH....
but sit back and enjoy.. took quite a lot, but enjoyed the performance too, it was staggering.
I was expecting the girl to swing off the tether but in fact she seemed to be the counterbalance as the guy went higher and lower on his swing..
the performance lasted about 15-20 minutes and was amazing! do go and see it if you're at Kew on a weekend.
I was really hot and tired now, so a quick look at the waterlilies....
a final few alliums...
nearly forgot the laburnum arch, which is past it's best but parts of it are fabulous still
sweet chestnut blooms...
the trees line the path from the entrance (or exit) at the Elizabeth gate are are stunning, and huge
587 photos... condensed madly...
hope you enjoyed it, I certainly did!!
so small they kept falling over!
