Kew Gardens

Very close to London, in fact, still on a tube line, are the Royal Botanical Kew Gardens which claim to have (and I believe them) 'the world's largest collection of living plants'.  I spent a day out there and while I certainly didn't see or photograph everything, I tried. No, seriously, you would need a year out there to do that.

For once, I think I should just let the pictures speak for themselves as so many views at Kew Gardens are so beautiful that they don't need my words to enhance them.

The nineteenth century glasshouses are perhaps the most famous buildings in the gardens.

They are not just bursting with life

including the world's tallest glasshouse plant

and a fruiting banana plant,

but they are also magnificent structures in their own right.

There are also some twentieth century additions such as the Alpine House

with its collection of hardy, cold climate plants

and the Princess of Wales conservatory, delightfully covered by a double rainbow in the moments before I visited.

Inside there are plants from every kind of growing condition from hot & dry to cold & wet. Here are just a few

There's even a walk way through the tree tops so you can see what it's like to be a leaf or a bird 18 metres above ground level.

My very favourite section, however, was this, the Order Beds where plants are grown according to their family groups

and once you know how to read the labels, you can see who's related to who which is always a handy thing to know.

According to some, autumn is the least impressive time to visit Kew Gardens.  Isn't that interesting?  Perhaps I'll have to come back one spring, summer or winter & see why.