Tripping the light fantastic at Kew Gardens….

Kew Gardens are gearing up for their Christmas light show Extravaganza with a whole array of fixtures and fittings being installed in the parkland - the even opens on the 26th November. These are just a tiny fraction of the lighting that is being installed. http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/whats-on/christmas-at-kew-2014 I think I will be attending....

Glorious Salvias at Kew Gardens

This very long border, packed full of all manner of Salvias, is looking just glorious - despite it being the 20th November - a late triumph of colour, with dark blue-blacks and palest blues, indigos and purples, reds, pinks, cerise and carmine set against typically aromatic leaves. These are tender, half-hardy and borderline hardy plants…

At Kew Gardens, Ginkgo biloba – a meeting with these remarkable prehistoric trees

Ginkgo biloba at Kew Gardens today. Gorgeous golden, buttery loveliness... http://www.kew.org/science-conservation/plants-fungi/ginkgo-biloba This remarkable tree is known as a 'living fossil', as it is the sole survivor of an ancient group of trees that date back to beyond the time of the dinosaurs. Ginkgo fossils are common in the rocks of the Jurassic and Cretaceous, but…

Autumn finery at Kew Gardens – Liquidambers, of course, my favourite Cotinus, Liriodendron, Hamamelis and Prunus, the ornamental cherries…

Blue skies, sunshine and a long hour at Kew Gardens to spy some autumnal goings on with a collection of amazing trees. I didn't travel far from the Palm House and I know there would be much, much more to see if I had to time to explore further - I really wanted to see…

Hip, Hip, Hooray (again…) More from the Rose Garden at Kew

Flowers there are in the Rose Garden at Kew- and a real treat they were too - but this is what I was expecting - a grand show of Rose Hips. Well, actually that is not strictly true, I wasn't anticipating this brilliant extravaganza from the modern pink shrub rose, Bonica (above and below). It…

If you were expecting more Autumnal fireworks, wait in line – in Kew Gardens, the roses continue to shine….

The Rose Garden at Kew today - I was expecting a delicious crop of hips amongst otherwise bedraggled roses, in the garden behind the Palm House at Kew Gardens this afternoon. I called in more to capture some of the arboreal autumnal fireworks from the likes of the Sweet Gum, Liquidamber styraciflua, the gorgeous Cotinus…

Wakehurst Place – Kew Gardens in the Country

    Wakehurst Place, billed as "Kew Gardens in the Country"   ... my pictures, taken yesterday and a few words from these goodly folk... http://www.kew.org/visit-wakehurst http://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/wakehurst-place/ http://www.gardenvisit.com/garden/wakehurst_place_garden http://thegallopinggardener.blogspot.co.uk/2010/10/gardens-for-all-seasons-wakehurst-place.html http://thegallopinggardener.blogspot.co.uk/2011/01/wonderful-w-gardens-wakehurst-to-wisley.html    

The Palm House at Kew Gardens – venerable, verdant and packed full of Class A drugs… #intoxicatedbyKew

Some ideas for the conservatory at home then... maybe not anything from the new exhibition there now.... this plant? not mine, officer! A new event starts today - 20th September to 12th October - the Intoxication Season - http://www.kew.org/visit-kew-gardens/whats-on/intoxication-season From everyday to Class A, mind-altering plants and fungi arrive at Kew this autumn. Explore the…

The fireworks continue at Kew Gardens – this bedding display ramps up the intensity

and a bit of a cheat here, since this next picture was taken at Wisley a day earlier - but it fits the theme, with a great sea of Heliotrope 'Dwarf Marine'. My website! but back to Kew and passing through the shop and out....