Kew in a blur. Time to see what all the fuss was about.

Ok to begin with an apology.  Three quarters of the photos in this blog post are out of focus or soft focus.  This is because, unbeknown to me, my daughters had been playing with the settings on the camera and smeared mucky fingers on the lens!  (Lesson always check your equipment before going out)  Luckily I noticed by the time I got to the big Jubaea palm so there are at least a few good photos.

This was my first trip to Kew Gardens and the journey there was very straight forward, taking less than 3 hours from Wakefield, West Yorkshire to the Kew Gardens ticket office using public transport.


View of the Temperate house, one of three large glasshouses at Kew

The main reason I wanted to visit Kew gardens was to see "the largest plant in captivity" this is the famous Jubaea palm  Raised from seed in 1846, it is widely believed to be the tallest glasshouse plant and is certainly the largest palm under glass.  More on that later.....


First here are some images from the plants growing outdoors at Kew including some  Trachycarpus palms and many bamboos.

T fortunei

 

P congesta

 

P parvifolia

 

 

 

They have built a very high platform to see the gardens from above.  The structures themselves are very impressive.  Unfortunately for me the lift was out of order so had to use the stairs.

 

 

The views from the top were very impressive although not good if you suffer from vertigo!

 

 

 

Kew is full of fantastic structures, some old and some new.  Here is a great example, the Pagoda.  One thing that did spoil Kew was the constant sight of loud planes which at times spoiled the relaxing feel of the gardens.

Not all palms are inside at Kew, there are some fortunei, chammys and a couple of Jubaeas including this specimen.

Most of the really impressive plants are found in the three main glasses houses.  Feast your eyes on these.

 

 

Tree ferns

 

 

 

Giant water lilies

Colocasia

Yucca queretaroensis

 

Chamaerops humilis

 

 

Now the above is only a small snippet of what Kew has to offer.  I did take many photos of the famous cycads but these were too blurry to post. :-(


The main reason I went to Kew was to see the Jubaea as its world famous and wanted to know what my small Jubaea will look like in a 100 years time!

It's found in the temperate house and has grown to such a height that the crown of the plant is squashing against the top of the glass house.  There is some debate as to how long it will remain before it has to be cut down and removed.   These are the photos I took of this magnificent palm.

 

 

 

 

As you can see a magnificant palm what looks fantastic up close.  Make sure you see it soon before it's too late.