Kew Gardens

On Tuesday, September 9, we went to Kew where the National Archives are located.  While two of us went to work in the archives, the rest of us went to Kew Gardens for a day of trees and flowers.

National Archives in Kew

When you walk in the Victoria Gate at Kew Gardens, one of the first things you see is the Palm House.  Built in the 1840s, it is made of some 16000 panes of glass.  It is built to simulate a tropical forest so, when you walk in, you are hit by a wave of heat and humidity.

Palm House

In fact, it is so hot and humid that my camera lens fogged up which makes the bananas shown below a little hazy looking.

Bananas in the Palm House

However, we persevered and made it out of the jungle into the fresh English air. It's beautiful just walking around these gardens since they are so intensively cultivated with great attention to detail.  A few exotic birds roam around for added spice.

Peacock - no women around so no need to show off his plumage

We joined a tour group guided by a quintessentially pleasant English lady who patiently endured my questions about which plants might have been brought back by Captain Cook or Captain Vancouver (who it wasn't clear that she had heard of).  The group also included a lady from Vancouver B.C. who volunteers at the Vancouver Botanical Gardens, so at least she knew what I was talking about and we shared some speculations.

Pretty flowers abounded of course.

Dahlias

Asters

Temple of Aeolus (built 1760s)

Chilean Bell Flower (Lapagaria Rosea)

The Chilean Bell Flower, we were told, is nearly extinct.  The lady from Vancouver said they have tried to grow it there but without success.  It is a temperate rain forest plant so, theoretically at least, it should be able to survive in the Pacific Northwest.

Golden Trumpet (Allamanda Cathartica) from the Amazon

Don't know what this is but I like it

Get a load of these water lilies from the Amazon.  They are about three feet across!  Apparently in Victorian times, it was cool to take a picture of your baby floating on one of these things!  There must have been a few unfortunate incidents but, luckily, the piranhas stayed in the Amazon so all was well.

Giant Water Lily (Victoria Amazonica)

Water Lilies

As a parting shot we took a walk in the treetops.

Treetop Walkway

Atop the Treetop Walkway

British humor concerning trees like the one in our front yard

Yet another day in London well spent.