We Are Only Making One Post Today,

as there are so many photographs,

 up early and off to the railway station, and this is what we are going to visit, no not the Harry Potter, we are going to the orchid show at Kew Gardens, featuring orchids from Indonesia,

 as always, we walked out of the tube station, on the wrong side of the tracks,

 retracing our steps we were on our way, past a few shops near the station, luckily there is no room here for a big multi chain store, so locals receive all of the benefits of much more reasonably priced foods and services,

 nice blue skies,

 we were a tad early, the good news as we were all members of Kew Garden, we could all enter the grounds 1 hour before they are open to the public, a great way to beat the crowds,

in no time we were in,

 walking past the first few daffodils of spring,

 past the tower,

 and the Palm House,

 and the lake with its silent sentinels looking on,

as we reached the bottom end of the lake,

a couple of swans, 

started feeding on the grass,

the central fountain working,

the swans were joined by a couple of geese,

some more of the first daffodils of spring,

but these,

not in pots,

the Palm House receding in the distance,

and another sign that spring is here, 

masses of crocus,

nearly there,

and here we are, queuing to enter,

the first of the displays greeted us,

with perhaps one of Indonesia's best known creatures, the Komodo Dragon,

we soon started seeing some of the many orchids on display,

these Cymbidium,

liking temperatures between 10-14°C (50-57°F), in the winter, and up to 30°C (86°F) in the summer, making them an ideal group for indoor display,

we made our way past the cactus section, which is permanently here,

and came across this,

Pelargonium cordifolium, in flower,

and the first of the larger displays of orchids,

the air in the house was more than a bit misty,

also the lens of my camera had not really warmed up, so condensation kept forming on it,

meanwhile the girls we having a great time,

lots of selfies,

even one of myself,

I took one photograph of Diana,

and another of me,

tha main display by the pool,

also there were many columns, 

and archways beautifully decorated with plants,

a quick pose, 

before the lens steamed up again,

a wiped and it was clear,

another of the columns of flowers,

and the top of one of the archways,

what a treat,

in case you do not know, a orchid display is held here at this time every year,

and every year a different country puts on a display,

this year Indonisia, in previous years we have seen Colombian and Thailand's displays amongst others,

the displays were split into two types, forest settings,

or set artificial displays,

both of which were so appealing,

everywhere a riot of colours, visitors enjoying the display,

 in small,

or large settings,

and now for something completely different,

blue orchids,

Dendrobium azureum, discovered by the intrepid Evelyn Cheesman, who deserves a post in her own right, it is one of the very few blue-flowered epiphytic orchids, but,

the plant is so incredibly rare that none could be displayed, these are white Phalaenopsis hybrids that have been dyed blue, unfortunately the Indonesian D. azureum is not in cultivation, 

 we continued our walk,

past towering displays,

and the Princess of Wales Conservatory wall plaque,

and another natural display setting,

before moving on,

to one of the displays,

of bromeliads,

we have seen many of these arrow leaf plants, (Nepthytis),

so this is a first for us, one with a variegated stem to the leaf,

a few more orchids,

this tower being admired by a visitor like us,

a stunning display of Vandas,

a little more difficult to keep, they do like it hot!

we continued our walk,

every turn bringing more surprises,

like this grotto,

with a small waterfall, 

at the end of it,

on the ground a display of slipper orchids, (Paphiopedilum),

similar to one that we have,

I keep forgetting to look up,

which is a shame,

as I could miss beauties like these,

back to the ground,

so many to look at,

and photograph,

I keep saying it,

if only we had a bigger flat/house,

I would take so much delight,

in making displays like these,

 what a beauty!

at the other extreme, some orchids stay small flowered,

but make up the difference in numbers,

a quick pose by Diana,

as we pass a display,

on our way to the Vanda staircase,

so many to look at, and such large flowers,

we made our way back, past some of the flower towers,

and hanging basket displays,

our trip to the orchid display nearly over,

but before we left, a look at the hairy rhino, also called the Sumatran Rhinoceros, (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis),

we made our way outside past the cactus display, but were diverted to a different exit, which made sense, last year it was a bit chaotic with visitors trying it get in and out of the same double doors,

outside we were greeted with a nice display of daffodils,

we made our way past the lake,

with its fountain,

the good news, we still had blue skies, though it had to be said it was at tad cold,

we had a look at the our door plant section,

lots of spring bulbs,

and plants for sale,

so nice to see the splash of colour outside,

a few signs blown over by last night's high winds,

the sales area now going behind the main sales building and restaurant,

I liked these,

double coloured primulas,

and primroses,

so nice to look at,

inside,

one of my favorite plant collections,

the inscetverious ones,

like these,

I thought this was a neat idea, creating a mini climate for these moisture loving plants,

monkey cups, or as they are called here, monkey jugs,

as you might expect, lots of orchids for sale,

as we made our way outside, a nice sight to see, a school day out to the gardens, 

we passed a few more pots on our way out,

and made our way back to the station and shops, but before that,

we stopped to look at this McLaren being unloaded off of a lorry, it was being looked after,

by a gentleman from the AA, I am not sure what this model is, in the past 8 years McLaren has introduced 16 new models! but the cheapest bog standard car in the stable is, the McLaren 540C, price when brand new, starts from a tad under £130,000, going upto the McLaren Senna from £750,000, a tad more for the P1, but no longer available from new, expect £1 million or so for a used one, or now sold out, the Speedtail, £2 million+,

time for breakfast/late lunch, so into the Kew Greenhouse Cafe,

 time for a quick pose,

 from all of us,

then tuck in, the price about £20 a couple or just a tad more,

as we arrived at the park we said our farewells,

there was a bit of rain and a very feint rainbow, and I do mean feint, 

after a small snack, I made a coffee for Diana and tried to make a heart in the mik, 

but it did not quite work out! we watched a few quiz shows,

then our film for the evening The Book of Eli, which we both enjoyed watching, to round the evening off as we munched on roasted chestnuts, we watched a New Tricks, with the end of that we were off to bed.