I Am Only Making One Post In 2 Parts Today,

it was Diana's day off,

so first thing we were out, and as usual I took way too many photographs, so many in fact I have split the post into 2 parts, we met Steve and Kai on the train,

arriving at Victoria, the girls bought a few nibbles, 

whilst Steve and myself waited outside,

on to the tube after which we arrived at Kew tube station,

and into the garden,

but first a coffee and a look round the shop, we had already booked a time slot to view the annual orchid display, this time it was the turn of Madagascar,

but first a look at what was on offer in the shop, 

lots of bromeliads, 

and some mini pineapples, 

which are also bromeliads, 

one of the many colourful members of the group,

I had to also have a look at the orchids,

so many to choose from,

these Cymbidium Auburn, with their dropping sprays of flowers,

looked especially nice, 

this Anthurium lilli, 

a new one to me,

I carried on looking along the plant benches,

a few bonsai,

and lots of cactus,

as well as tin garden ornaments,

a few more orchids,

looking nice, after a coffee,

we were out into a grey rainy wet day,

the Palm House in the distance,

looking towards the lake,

the dogwood adding a splash of colour to it, not naming any names, but somebody suddenly found that she had lost our tickets, a frantic retracing of steps,

 

and somebody was now very happy!

we passed the giant Chilean rhubarb, Gunnera manicata, not yet starting its summer growth,

and the restaurant at the end of the lake,

the fountain not working today,

a few crocuses putting on a show,

and this is where we are going,

into the Prince of Wales conservatory, 

the baggage check before entering,

some of the exhibits here all of the time,

naturally a pose from Diana,

as we looked at the first pot of orchids,

as we then passed some succulents,

a pose from the girls,

and a reminder of some of the unique wildlife of Madagascar,

lemurs, 

they were everywhere,

if you knew where to look, 

and Diana did!

and one more in the distance,

there he is,

the barrel cactus, (Echinocactus grusonii), hardly seemed to have grown at all since our last visit, 

that is a tall cactus!

Diana put me here so I have now got green spiky hair,

I carried on snapping away,

as we passed more orchids,

and a now extinct bird from Madagascar, 

the sign says it much better than I ever could,

the first of many columns and archways,

decorated with orchids, 

we then came to the indoor pond which Diana was photographing,

until she saw me,

the whole area was decked out in orchids,

so many pots of them,

more on the back wall,

in the centre of the pond a dead tree, 

that had been taken over by, lemurs, 

one for the album,

all through the exhibition of orchids,

you could see birds,

and animals everywhere,

but it was these,

that were the stars of the show,

so many colours,

I stopped here,

to take more than a few,

photographs,

of Diana,

so of course next one of myself,

and with Steve,

I then made a detour, 

into the section of carnivorous plants,

lots of pitcher plants,

but unfortunately no Venus fly traps,

back by the pool Diana was waiting,

a tad difficult to make out at first,

but here he is,

a chameleon,

as it happens Madagascar is home to the worlds smallest chameleon, (Brookesia micra or nana),

but the colours of these are a bit fanciful!

and there is another one,

and in the distance,

one more,

Diana was still busy snapping away,

as was Kai, as Steve held her coat, well it was hot in here,

in the distance, 

a cacao pod,

this archway, 

was just waiting for Diana!

this looked interesting, 

I think it is costus louisil,

but I can not be sure,

I came across another one of the cacao trees,

 that we get our chocolate from,

and here was a interesting creature, on the tree, 

a Aye-aye,

the sign says it all,

we passed more orchid covered archways,

the orchids,

looking stunning, 

even the ones with no patterns in the petals,

just past this bowl of orchids,

a small pool,

here another strange creature that Madagascar is famous for,

the Giraffe weevil,  

a lot smaller than the model,

and here a butterfly,

a huge palm, that is a permeant resident, 

the leaves slowly uncurling,

amazing!

as were the next few orchids we are about to see,

this one has a huge over 3 feet long stalk,

and at the end of it this incredible flower,

here some yellow flower spikes,

hanging down,

 above Diana,

a moth,

here another incredible flower spike,

ending in this beauty, 

Diana was snapping away,

with her mobile telephone,

at this one as well,

what a beauty!

and still more,

Madagascar is certainly the place for stunning orchids,

some smaller ones were behind glass,

Diana had found another,

again on spikes but these upright,

wonderful,

well I just had to!

the trickle of water, 

was not far away,

as we passed a huge comet moth, (Argema mittrei),

there were some more decorated pillars,

with masses of orchids on them,

more in pots,

nearby some ground cover plants,

then a series of archways,

time for one more pose,

as the exhibition came to an end,

with a display of how scientists stay in the wild as they look for new species,

as a tortoise looks on,

I have to say it all looks like fun, I would not mind doing this at all,

but I guess being miles from help,

if something did go wrong, 

it could be more than a tad serious, and in any event I can not cook,

 

one more before we leave, 

what a wonderful display, if you would like to see the rest of our day in Kew and then Chinatown followed by the light show at Battersea Park, please click on the 'Older Posts' button on the bottom right of the page.