Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew

Another beautiful fall day; a little cool and foggy in the morning, burning off to reveal blue skies. I'm sure I don't deserve such nice weather; but whatever. A perfect day to go and explore the world-famous Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.

A nearly perfect spiderweb (all it lacked was a spider) perfectly catches the not-yet evaporated dew. This resided right out side the palm house; within, all humidity and heat. Probably this would be a very popular place round about December. Within the house, I climb the stairs - the great jungle explorer prepares to rise above the tree-tops... Below, an unidentified insect basks in the heat and dampness.

I availed myself of one of the excellent tours offered by the management. Julie led us on a brisk walk through the south-east quadrant of the garden to view "The Champion Trees of Kew". She had a charming distinction of "Champion" with a capital C and "champion" with a small c. Apparently, there is an organization that rates trees as biggest, widest, oldest, tallest, and so forth, for which identifications are registered. I think she called it "Trobe", though I'm quite sure that is not the correct spelling. The Champion trees (capital C) are identified by a national organization. The champion trees (small c) are Kew Gardens' own identifier of excellent trees - that distinction usually based on beauty, health, rarity, curiosity (weirdness), or history. We were introduced to several, and at the same time got to see some pretty sterling lawns and vistas. Ahh. English parks and gardens. Hello, Jane Austen!

This all accompanied by a chance-met acquaintance, a young lady from Germany enjoying a last few days in England before returning to work.

The park is too big to visit properly in a day. I will come back and revisit - the vistas want walking, there were all together too many people there, enjoying the perfect weather! Also, perhaps next time I will be more forbidding in my demeanor, and will get a chance to sketch. I did not get enough chances to sit and gaze. Still, it is always delightful to connect with random human beings in places of mutual interest. It is always happening to me, and I do not reject any of these experiences! If I were traveling with built-in companions, I most certainly would not be meeting the amazing collection of people that I have so far. My chance-met companions this trip have spanned the globe.

We also visited Mad King George's "weekend cottage", walked the new and excellent "Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop walkway". This takes you up about 4 flights of stairs to a walkway that is suspended above a little forest. It was packed with people when I went up, so there was a certain amount of sway. Pretty nice! The walkway was elegantly designed and tastefully ornamented.

Although the garden is still a working laboratory and resource for botanists, the directors have worked pretty hard to make the garden accessible and interesting to pretty much everybody - of any age or interest level. There was a little aquarium below the palm house. All the glass houses had walkways around the top of the greenery; with circular stair cases winding up to get there. The iron work is mostly Victorian, and ornate as a wedding cake. Painted white. There must be an enormous amount of maintenance required in a garden like this. Leiden's botanical garden came as such an amazment to me; Kew is its grand and glorious elder.

The shop was not a disappointment; there were two shelves of botanical drawing and painting books. Eeek. I got two. Does this surprise anyone who knows me?

What a delight of a day.