As Usual On Trips Like This,

I took way too many photographs, 

so I have split today's post into two halves, this is part one of our trip to Kew Gardens, glad rags on,

it was going to be a warm, 

but here the first signs of autumn as mushrooms start to grow,

at the base of some of the trees in the park,

it will not be long before the back garden lawn has its first mushroom fairy rings, 

it was supposed to be a warm day, but it was quite overcast as we made our way to the bus stop,

in fact as we walked past the station car park the sky looked distinctly cloudy, 

into the station,

a quick pose,

from both of us, I had remembered my hat, the last time we went out on a sunny day without one my head was so burnt, it was sore for days!

Diana on the station monitor,

we meet with Steve and Kai on the train, as soon as we were off the train, the girls were off, 

I looked at the new sign as the girls bought some food,

time for breakfast,

and then shopping,

here,

at a Turkish stall in the station concourse,

called Taste the Best, 

it specialized in Turkish foods,

and what Turkish stall would be complete with out Turkish Delight?

so many to choose from,

Steve and myself looked on,

as the girls made their selection,

all bought out we were soon on the tube to Kew,

out of the station and underneath it,

to emerge here, 

a short walk to the garden's gate,

past the sign,

and we were inside, as we are all members of Kew Gardens we walked straight in,

a quick look in the shop by the water tower,

as Steve keeps bees,

I always look at them on display,

and bee products,

honey spiced rum, yummy!

lots of plants on display as well,

a few bonsai,

as well as other plants,

like these succulents,

and cacti,

these lithops one of my favourite groups,

as well as metal bees, offered for sale were,

ducks,

woodpeckers,

kingfishers,

and upside-down bats,

plus a huge selection of books,

Steve and Kai grabbed a table,

as Diana tucked,

the legendary Palm House,

zooming into the door,

and from one of the flower beds in front of it,

the beds full of colour,

we passed the lake in front of it,

the vases in front of it brimming with plants,

in the distance the fountain,

and house behind it,

looking back to the Palm House,

the upper galleries,

we had bought some peanuts to feed the ducks, 

but all the pond held were Canadian geese,

and fish,

lots of fish who loved peanuts!

we passed the Palm House, 

and its statuary, 

time to smell the roses, 

as we made our way to a crowded Waterlily House, 

time for another pose,

from both of us,

inside the star of the show,

a huge waterlily, Victoria boliviana, it was named as a new species by a team from Kew in 2022, their lily pads grow up to three metres wide, with prickly undersides and wide, upturned rims,

I started taking photographs,

of this huge waterlily, 

this leaf starting to unfold, 

this one just opening,

whilst this leaf had barely reached the surface,

I then started taking photographs, 

of some of the many other lilies, 

in the pool that were open,

the huge lily pads making a nice backdrop,

to the opened flowers,

most of the lilies in flower will stay open for 4 - 5 days, unlike the flowers from Victoria boliviana, which only last for 48 hours, they start out white, then darken to pink for the second night they are open, before sinking beneath the surface of the water,

for a change a yellow flower,

pale blue,

and white, we left the lily house,

and found ourselves amongst the roses,

and started our walk, past huge majestic trees,

this one a chestnut tree, 

we were walking towards,

the Bamboo Garden and Minka House,

so many bamboos,

which both Steve and myself like,

but over the years the group have developed a bit of a bad rap,

they can encroach past your gardens boundaries, unless,

you put a physical barrier in place to stop them doing so,

as can be seen here,

the Minka House, the house belonged to the Yonezu family, who lived in it after their main house was bombed in 1945, after the last of the family died, the house was donated to Kew by the Japan Minka Reuse and Recycle Association as part of the Japan 2001 Festival, it was rebuilt by a team of Japanese carpenters and British builders,

by now the sun had really come out, it was nice walking through the shade given by the bamboos,

we continued walking,

through the rhododendron garden,

and walked by this huge chestnut tree, 

and it was huge,

as can be seen by Diana next to it,

and here is another,

laden down with seeds,

in their prickly outer coat,

I guess to stop them being eaten, 

until the seeds outer tough coat has formed, 

another of the huge trees, 

the girls looking at the prickly nut coverings,

a bald eucalyptus tree, 

its bark no longer on the tree,

but it can be seen higher up the trunk,

unlike these two eucalyptus trees,

that have their bark,

we were thinking of eating here, but it was the kids area, 

so we made a move past the ankle bitters, 

and past Kew Palace,

to the restaurant here,

which is the Orangery, 

next door to the ice cream stall,

measuring 28 x 10 meters (92 x 33ft), it was commissioned by one of the founders – Princess Augusta – and built-in 1761 by Sir William Chambers (who also went on to tutor her son, the future King George III), originally designed to be used to overwinter exotic fruits. However, due to its sheer scale and the large portions of brickwork, it was never truly fit for purpose. In 1841 the resident citrus trees were temporarily moved to the Orangery at Kensington Palace whilst the building was renovated by Sir William Hooker,

and today it is a restaurant, 

where we had a late lunch, it was a tad expensive to say the least, a mini bottle of average plonk £8.95! but there it is, so one glass with a tomato and chicken roll it was,

it was it has to be said spacious inside,

meal over time for a pose,

or two,

or three,

a look at the surrounding flower beds,

I have to admit I do not know,

 what these flowers are,

but they looked so nice in the afternoon sun,

as did these daisy like flowers,

as we walked we passed some 'mental grass', 

I have mentioned it before, the first time we saw similar grasses I mentioned to Diana that they were ornamental grasses, 

Diana misheard me,

so from then on they were known as mental grasses,

we were making our way back towards the big pond,

but stopped by these,

they looked to be wild roses, 

in any event they had a lovely aroma,

and made for a ideal backdrop,

for a photograph,

and a few more photographs,

coming up, 

Ta-Dah!

and one more,

well I just had to,

have one more,

we walked towards one of the follies,

in the gardens and it is here I will stop as if the post gets too big it is a bit unmanageable, so if you would like to see the second part of our day at Kew, please click the 'Older Posts' button at the bottom right of the page.