Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew

On the weekend we went to Kew Gardens at Richmond in London.

We did not have to see the whole site; I think you could spend a week there and still haves things to see. Highlights were the Palm House, the newly re-opened Temperate House, and walking around the tree top walkway.

Outside the Palm House. The grass is a little crispy due to the hot weather we've had here in England for the past few week.

Inside the palm house.

Banana plant with actual bananas! In grey old England!

5' 11" man for scale. Look at the size of the leaves!

The plants go all the way to the roof top.

The plants dwarf you. It's a wonderful feeling.

The Palm house is kept warm an moist, with steam being pumped out at regular intervals. It's humid, the day we went, it was 28℃... phew! The floor is delightfully damp, with gutters running along all the walkways for the excess water to drain away.

The Great Pagoda.

The Pagoda is decorated with these fabulous green and gold Chinese style dragons.

The Pagoda has a resident Peacock.

The Great Pagoda has timed tickets, and we were a little pressed for time that day, so unfortunately there wasn't enough time to wait for the next entry. I guess I'll just have to go up another time :)

The Treetop walkway is 18 meters high (and a bit wobbly). It has a great view of the Temperate house.

The Temperate House has only recently been re-opened after being closed in 2013 for renovation. To quote the guide leaflet:

The Temperate House was commissioned in 1859 bu the Director of Kew Gardens, Sir William Jackson Hooker (1785 - 1865). It was designed by the renowned architect Decimus Burton (1800 - 1881) and opened to the public for the first time in 1863, although it took a further 36 years to complete."

Decimus - excellent architect, excellent name.

It's a spectacular structure. Much like the Palm House, it recreates the right conditions for the plants living there. Here however, there are no jets of steam. Check out the cute little pond!

The Temperate House is divided into different sections according to continent. We entered via the Cherry Walk on the North side. This took us into the Asia section first.

This is an Imperial Lemon plant.

From the Asia room, you move through an octagonal section into the largest room.

This is double height, with a gallery walkway around the top. In this part of the Temperate House are the Himalaya, Australia, New Zealand, Islands and Americas sections.

Impressive metal work.

Looking down from the gallery, you get a fantastic view on the plants below.

From this large room, you move through another octagonal section into the Africa room. There is a separate building for Western Australia.

The Temperate House contains over 1500 plant species, including some of the world's rarest and most endangered plants. A great example is the Wood's Cyad.

I lost my photo of the actual plant! I've had to borrow this one instead. Source.

If you want to donate to Kew to help them continue their important conservation work (and help lonely plants), you can visit their website.

Thanks for having a look, and hope you enjoy!