Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew
Kew Gardens is the UK's national botanic garden -- now a UN World Heritage Site -- that covers 300 acres on the banks of the Thames, about 90 minutes by boat upstream from central London. There are thousands of specimens of trees and plants from all over the world, many collected during the days of the British Empire by the global explorers that established that Empire and kept it working for a couple of centuries. We took the boat trip there on May 7th and spent several hours walking the beautiful pathways and taking in the riot of color that adorns the park in the spring.
The enormous glass conservatories date from the 1800's (examples of another of Chuck's favorite British things -- spectacular Victorian engineering). They contain a bewildering variety of plants from any part of the world you've ever heard of -- and some you may not have heard of at all. The mind-boggling magnitude of the incredible wealth of botanical knowledge represented in Kew Gardens is greatly enhanced when the viewer realizes that the park's roots (no pun intended) go back to the 1730's and the great botanist Sir Joseph Banks.
We were fortunate to have planned our visit at the height of the short blooming season for the native British bluebell wildflowers; this is, apparently, an eagerly anticipated event among British gardeners, which in this country is a very large part of the population. While the bluebells blooming by the millions in natural meadows were very beautiful, it would be hard to choose what was most beautiful or interesting. Rhododendron Row contains many, many dozens of different species of that beautiful flower -- some of the plants are well over a century old. The Row extends for about a half mile and is spectacular to see when the plants are at the height of bloom.
As the name implies, the Botanic Gardens are located in the London region of Kew. As we arrived in Kew and were leaving the pier for the Gardens, we passed the Kew common where a cricket match was in progress. The common is surrounded by beautiful older homes, many with Wisteria vines covering the facades -- and we seem to have arrived at just the right time to see these beautiful flowers in bloom.
Despite the fact that it was a bit cool and windy, the boat ride there and back was a big part of the enjoyment of the day. The river banks in central London are made spectacular by all the glorious older buildings as well as a dizzying display of modern architecture of all kinds in office and apartment buildings. There are pictures of the river cruise and views of the gardens at: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/548358/1
The enormous glass conservatories date from the 1800's (examples of another of Chuck's favorite British things -- spectacular Victorian engineering). They contain a bewildering variety of plants from any part of the world you've ever heard of -- and some you may not have heard of at all. The mind-boggling magnitude of the incredible wealth of botanical knowledge represented in Kew Gardens is greatly enhanced when the viewer realizes that the park's roots (no pun intended) go back to the 1730's and the great botanist Sir Joseph Banks.
We were fortunate to have planned our visit at the height of the short blooming season for the native British bluebell wildflowers; this is, apparently, an eagerly anticipated event among British gardeners, which in this country is a very large part of the population. While the bluebells blooming by the millions in natural meadows were very beautiful, it would be hard to choose what was most beautiful or interesting. Rhododendron Row contains many, many dozens of different species of that beautiful flower -- some of the plants are well over a century old. The Row extends for about a half mile and is spectacular to see when the plants are at the height of bloom.
As the name implies, the Botanic Gardens are located in the London region of Kew. As we arrived in Kew and were leaving the pier for the Gardens, we passed the Kew common where a cricket match was in progress. The common is surrounded by beautiful older homes, many with Wisteria vines covering the facades -- and we seem to have arrived at just the right time to see these beautiful flowers in bloom.
Despite the fact that it was a bit cool and windy, the boat ride there and back was a big part of the enjoyment of the day. The river banks in central London are made spectacular by all the glorious older buildings as well as a dizzying display of modern architecture of all kinds in office and apartment buildings. There are pictures of the river cruise and views of the gardens at: http://chuck.smugmug.com/gallery/548358/1
posted by Chuck and Kathi Calvano @ 7:50 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home