March 27: Kew Gardens!

Today was a fantastic day. I decided to go to Kew Gardens, even though I'll be going again in April with the rest of the program, because I just really wanted to see the magnolias and the daffodils and have some time to explore all on my own. It was heavenly. The gardens are huge, much bigger than I'd even expected. I got there around 11, and ended up staying till after 5. This would be a very, very long entry if I talked about everything I saw, so I'll try to just stick to the highlights.

When I got through the gates, the first thing I saw was an immense lake with a fountain, flanked by a pretty house, lots of carefully symmetrical flower beds, and a huge greenhouse. I, of course, made straight for the biggest, shiniest thing I could see: the greenhouse. This one had been built in the Victorian era to house the giant palm trees and other tropical specimens that were being brought back to Britain from India and other parts of the British Empire. It was separated by region, so I walked through Eastern Asia, the Near East, South America, Central America, Australia, and lots of other places.

Oldest potted plant in the world, was brought to Kew in 1773

Jade Vine, Strongylodon macrobotrys, from the Philippines

Aphelandra sinclairiana, Central America

Giant palm from South America, the biggest plant in the Palm House

Bromeliad

In the Water Lily House

I went into another greenhouse called the "Temperate House," where they grow plants that need a bit of extra warmth but aren't quite tropical. It was spectacular!

Iris japonica

Rhododendron macgregoriae

Pretty koi pond

I'm very worried that this will be my fish Miles in a few years...

Uh oh! It was as long as my arm and massive!

Aeonium undulatum, Canary Islands

Really nifty unlabelled Amaryllis. Mom, we may need to find one like this.

Baby's breath growing over a tree...Mom, let's see if we can do something like this

Date palm tree. Ummm, oops. Well, on the bright side, I bet it took a long time to get that big, so we're probably good for a few more decades, Mom.

This settles it. We are getting a yellow Clivia. Soon!

...though I still love the classic orange.

Then I decided it was time for lunch, so I searched for a bench in the sun. During my quest, I stumbled across a peacock taking a dust bath under a tree. Roaming around outside was wonderful. The little birds were singing their heads off and the sun was shining and it was just lovely. I was paying particular attention to the magnolias, since we're currently trying to decided which one we want to plant at home.

My peacock friend

The famous pagoda

Flowering Quince. I'm so jealous!

Japanese Garden

Peacock #2. This one got chased off by Peacock #3.

Magnolia "Leonard Messel." This one had lots of pink but not a very strong fragrance.

Peacock #4

Oh, so pretty...

...but then he picked a fight with a goose...

...it got ugly!

Sleepy goosey

Rhododendron arboreum 'Gloxinaeflorum'

Helleborus

Magnolia "Charles Rafill." Loved the huge pink flowers, but no way would it grow by us.

Another giant-flowered favorite.

Nesting Indian Ringneck...I find them EVERYWHERE

Magnolia

Magnolia "Kobus"

I LOVED this one! Magnolia "Phelan Bright"

Fields of Chionodoxa

Happy day!

Kew Palace

Magnolia stellata. See, Mom, it just doesn't have the oomph we need.

Bird of Paradise

I like how they keep the tree upright. Looks like something Agee would rig.

Tulip "Love Song." We need to get some!

China Rose

Then came the Rock Garden and Alpine Garden areas...OH MY GOODNESS!!! Absolutely wonderful. The Alpine Garden was inside a little but very specialized greenhouse. It was very tall, apparently something to do with drying out and cooling down the air, and also large pipes that pumped cool, dry air directly onto the little plants. Someday, I want my own!

Little miniature Trillium!

I want one!

I liked this. It was like miniature Silver Mound Artemisia

Techophilaea cyanocrocus. AMAZING!!! As blue as a gentian!

I love Spurge so much!

Inside the Princess of Wales Greenhouse: LOTS more tropicals:

Kohleria spicata

Jungle!

Cereus stenogonus: Looks a heck of a lot like ours. I would bet

that's what it is, Mom. We should make it a label before we forget.

Giant, friendly puffer in a display pond. He was such a fun fishy.

Pitcher plant flower

Waterlily

Pretty Lady's Slipper. Wish they had labelled the orchids.

SOOO jealous of the Vandas. Someday I will be able to keep these.

Orange Cattleya

Some kind of Dendrobium. I really wish they had labelled these.

I WANT a Cymbidium like this. Mom, we need to look for one of these.

It was such a pretty, different  shade of green, and I loved the contrast.  

Hereroa tugwelliae, in the desert area

Helen's favorite Crown Imperials were blooming all over. I was so jealous.

The Palm House

At the end of a lovely day

I so wish I could have taken some of these home!

Like, really. There were so many and they were so nice. It was torture!

Stripey Camellia for Mom

The gift shop had some truly amazing plants and seeds for sale. I was just in pain knowing that I couldn't take any home with me. Then I saw that they had Thompson and Morgan brand double annual poppies, which I can't get in the States because it's a British company and apparently they can't ship "opiates" overseas so I've always wished I could sneak some home. Hopefully they'll make it back ok and we'll have some really nice poppies in the garden this year! I just couldn't resist. I was just about dead by the end of the day. I had such a nice time, but my feet were shot. I stumbled home to a Cornish pasty for dinner and finished up some homework, then re-wrote a few of my 2011 garden lists.