Kew Gardens, West London

I wanted to show those of you 

who are following my blog 

some beautifully landsacped 

gardens around London.

Here we are at the Royal Botanic 

Gardens at Kew,in west London.

Perfection in a flower

I love the fact that we can walk around

 these amazing places 

and take in the fabulous setting.

So please follow this blog with me.

I took a trip to Kew Gardens

on 15.7.15. 

It was an opportunity to 

photograph amazing plants, 

trees and flowers growing here.

It was buzzing with people.

But what a place. 

 There is nowhere in the world 

 that lives up to this place. It is such a 

world wide centre of research and expertise.

Fabulous Carpet bedding
in front of Palm House

 There were lots of Gardeners, 

working really hard to make the place 
look so perfect.

They all look so happy 
and dedicated to such an important 
cause.

What a construction!
The main Palm House
Imagine how long it took to construct?

             The Palmhouse

This amazing plant really caught my eye.

 

 

 

Inside the huge domed glass building 

we can see so many
 truly bizarre tropical plants growing. 

Here a 'mini climate has been created, 
which shows us how special plants are 
able to grow as they would in The Tropics.

I find it amazing how much time and research 

has gone into this astounishing place for people 

to visit from all over the globe. 

It is a fantastic 

place to actually see such incredible plants and 

rare species from all over the world.

A simple display that you could easily
 put together with a little artistic play.

  What do you think? 

It is so easy, really 

it is. 

 

Find a nice sturdy 

stone planter and 

work out where to 

position it in your 

Garden. 

Then go for seasonal 

plants which will show 

it off to its best. 

Here they have used only 

two colours and it works 

well with the green leaves

against the white of the 
planter.

 

Fabulous Cannas
Brilliant oranges, but tender plants

Let me know how you get on. 

Come back to me for some ideas 

and suggestions please.

I am going to walk you around 

this fabulous place to show you what 

can be done but on a small scale. 

The Rose Garden

Let me show you some of the fabulous 

roses behind The Palm House. 

A small selection of them.

It is quite a large area of planting

 on a grass area and it really

 was in full colour in early July.

Perfection in a Rose

I love the way the petals 'hang' together 

and the almost blousy effect this one has.

I love the pale pale pink
of this rose. Don't you?

Such a stunning wild rose.

What do they remind you of?
An old fashioned swimming hat?

Trees

Kew is full of so many amazing trees. 

There are many types of Pine tree, 

so statuesque and beautiful. 

 

How can this keep growing?

I love walking amongst the calmness of trees. 

The smell they give off and their
stillness is so unique.

A remarkable sight

What a place for nesting birds 

or curious school children!

This same tree, how can it keep
growing like this?

This pine trees needles almost look blue.

What art we find in nature. 

Perfectly formed pine cones

The fascinating
 bark of eucalyptus

The air is filled with an exotic aroma

I love Eucalyptus.

Here at Kew it works perfectly.







It was so amazing walking through this 'jungly area', 

these statuesque, giant trees are so special.

 It was almost like I was transported 

to the southern hemisphere.

I love the effect of the
white peeled bark

These trees are beautiful in the way 

they move in the wind, 

their fabulous bark
and the aroma from the leaves.

Stunning flowers 

I had never seen them before. 

Perfect and so artistic
Did you know that eucalyptus have flowers?

Any ideas about this plant?

A type of Sweet Chestnut?

A giant Oak Tree?

The leaves are absolutely huge

 The artful forms of trees is something

 to be admired

The beech leaves
almost appear purple. 

I love trees in all their shapes and forms. 

We are surrounded
by the most amazing specimens here at Kew.

College Lake, Hertfordshire

College Lake Nature Reserve

This is a large nature haven for 

all sorts of wild life, 

situated in Hertfordshire. 

There is a lot more to see in

 the summer months, 

with all kinds of wild flowers,

buttterflies, damsel flies and 

all sorts of valuable insects.

It is well maintained but like all these

 Nature reserves relies on donations

and subscribtions to the Beds, Berks and

 Oxfordshire Wildlife Trust.

Down in the marshland area of the lake 

you can see breeding waders.

In particular redshank and lapwing

 which are also rare birds.

There is plenty for birding types

 to learn and see, often
seen with their binocurs, 

in the area or in the hides.

Scabious

Fabulous

wild flowers

planted at

College Lake. 

  

Do you feel the

purple is a bit blue?

It is also an educational place for 

groups of people to learn more about 

natural habitats in the U.K. 

 

There are a number of different outdoor

classrooms and woodland areas to gather 

in and learn at different times of the year.

This picture made me want to be 

at the sea somehow. 

It felt good to be 

warm, in the middle of the summer, 

in a peaceful, quiet place.

Part of Lake
and Chalk Quarry

 

Summer thistle
and wild flowers

You can walk all the way around the reserve

 if you feel energetic. 

Or sit and listen to the birdsong.

Water is so calming
and peaceful to me

This was a chalk quarry which was 

excavated and a huge nature

reserve was created.

 

It took a lot of work from the Trust as mentioned 

above and volunteers.  

There are quite a number of birds to see

 on the lake and also a number of 

hides around the Reserve. There are know to be

 one thousand different wildlife species

found here. There are also some rare

 butterflies found here. e.g. the small blue. 

 

Fabulous hollyhocks
 in July

There are all sorts of small birds like finches 

and the many of the tit family, thrushes and 

also redwings later on in the year. 

 

Skylarks are also found breeding 

here in the

grassland areas.

 

One of the top walkways
on a warm July day.

Bigger birds of prey can be found here

 such as barn owls and kestrels.

It is a peaceful place to come and sit and 

take in nature. 

Better on a warm sunny day.

P.4 How to create a Mini Garden

......" Sunshine, warmth, long shadows....
Summer is here 

Plant No 1 -Courgette

It is now hanging underneath a very prolific summer flowering Jasmine so it is sheltered

and shaded from the light somewhat.

It is growing really well now as you can see below.

Marrow's new flowers forming

Now you can see how big it is growing so it has to be moved into the raised bed.
I have started to dig the plot over ready to plant it. I will be adding more
nutrients to the soil. Keep following please.

See my fabulous Courgette flower fully opened

Inside of Courgette flower and its stamen

I have seen a few insects flying around it so that is good news. It is a bit
tucked away so I think I need to also plant it in the ground and have more
space for it to grow.

I need to pay attention to these veggies and get the marrow into the ground 
as soon as I can.
It was pretty hot work digging over the raised beds yesterday.

The flowers of both my Veggies are growing and so need to develop now.
I also need to pollinate the Courgette when both the male and female
flowers are open.
Keep reading please.

Raised bed ready. Added leaf mould 

Hole dug for Marrow

Some more leaf mould in planting hole

Marrow in ground 5.7.15

Marrow planted up 5.7.15

This Marrow now at last has room and space to spread in. 

I have placed a small 

container of beer beside it to stop the slugs eating it. 

I have watered it in and let's watch it grow. I have also covered it with a nice

 big cloche which I will take off 

during the day light hours so it is exposed to the sunlight directly onto the plant.

It was quite windy when I planted this. As a result I covered it over with its
cloche.
This Marrow is happy being in the ground and able to spread out now.





Marrow in ground is growing quite slowly. It is still covered with cloche. 








 Update on Experiment
My marrow is not very happy in the ground.  It has been eaten a lot and has a third
flower now which may survive the slugs. Very disappointing. 

Some horrible hungry creatures 
devouring my marrow!