Kew Gardens

While we were over in England last week doing some visiting we made sure we got to Kew Gardens in London.  I was there about 24 years ago and I've always remembered the smell in the Palm House from the walk way up near the roof.  Smelling like a jungle must smell, Ialways sought it out in other places but nothing ever matched it.

So when we got there on Thursday morning it was the first thing to visit. I have discovered that it is very hard to take a picture of an entire palm tree so I contented myself with studying the interesting bark.

There were plenty of huge trees and the next photo is of the oldest pot plant in the world which seemed to have trouble staying upright.

Tucked in amongst the palms were some beatiful flowers.  Of course we never thought to note the names down.

When we eventually left through the back door heaven awaited when we spied hundreds and hundreds of lavender plants.  Mmmmm, the smell hung in the air.

When we were all relaxed from the lavender wafting through the air we found our way to a secluded seat under a sweet chestnut tree.

There were seats everywhere in Kew which was great and they were in all the cutest places.  We tested many of them out as well as the ground which was perfect.  As we were fairly tired we needed to have two snoozes to recharge. 

This was littered everywhere under the tree and formed a nice carpet there.  There was also the obligatory tree hug.

I was saying to Chris that I would like to be a tree in my next life if that's the way things work.  He replied by saying that he believes that if some one would like to be reincarnated as a tree or a dolphin or a bird in their next life that they should try to be like that thing in this life first.  Why not incorporate the characteristics you admire into the life you already have?  To me this is a great idea so I began to think about why I would like to be a tree.....

Trees don't eat anyone and no one eats them until they die.....except of course us humans.  But they seem to be outside the whole notion of having to kill something else in order to live, but I could be wrong here.  They are slow.  They don't move except for being shaken by the wind.  This is something that would be a relief to me as I feel that us humans are far too frenetic, feeling the need to do far too much.  They add to the life of the planet by providing oxygen.  They provide shelter for animals and when they die naturally and fall to the forest floor they make space for new saplings to emerge. 

They are strong and beautiful.  I wonder does it matter what kind of tree I would like to be?  Maybe an oak would be a good one, but then that would be a bit predictable so I might search among the trees and find one that I would like to be.

Maybe this one.

Or this giant redwood seen as I have red hair already....

I wouldn't like to be a palm tree because as you can see it doesn't really provide a comfortable perch for little climbers.

Moving back to more important things (maybe)...this is the biggest compost heap in the world apparently and I suppose a lot of the dead trees from the gardens end up here.  This isn't even all of it and apparently they take in 200 tonnes of waste a week from their three hundred acre site..as far as I can remember. 

Moving back to the more decorative...Chris was convinced that these weren't real at first.  Again, I didn't write down the name.  These were in the chilli and water lily house.  This was probably the most beatiful place in Kew, in my opinion anyway. 

A beautiful pond surrounded by a beautifully adorned railing.  I could have stayed here forever....

...looking at the lillies.

...and all the peppers.

Going back to the entrance we took some photos of a parterre that was in front of the palm house.  This seems to be an ornamental formal vegetable, fruit and herb garden.  So everything in the picture is edible.

Except for the people and the palm tree!

Nice use of red lettuce in the next photo...

Overall we had a fantastic day in Kew gardens and I would highly recommend it.  However it was pricey at the equivalent of €18.  This is why we stayed all day, to get value for our money.  If you wanted to get into Kew Palace you had to pay another €8.  This is a pity as it might put off families from coming but maybe not.  It definitely was an educational and inspirational visit and I would love to go back again today, if only to sit under that sweet chestnut again.....