Kew Gardens in March: Signs of Spring

During my year's membership of Kew Gardens I sometimes struggled to find the time to take proper days off and go visit the gardens, but when I did it was so worth it.

In January I explored the rock garden and the Princess of Wales Conservatory, then took a walk round the gardens enjoying the bare trees and occasional bits of winter colour. I was busy with deadlines in February, so by the time March rolled round I couldn't wait to go back!

After the rather grey weather in January it was wonderful to have a day of blue skies and sunshine. The first signs of spring were showing themselves - daffodils by the Temple of Aeolus (the ruler of the winds)...

... and carpets of crocuses, gleaming in the spring light. 

What a difference a bit of blue sky makes! The gardens were still looking rather bare, but the buildings gleamed and the branches of the trees looked quite gorgeous against a backdrop of blue.

 

 

I revisited some of the areas of the gardens that I'd been to before, like the lake (there's something so calming about a stroll round a lake, isn't there?)...

... and explored some new ones, including the Great Pagoda, the Japanese Landscape and the Marianne North Gallery (so fabulous!).

After my walk (and a cuppa and a piece of cake - v. important) I headed indoors to enjoy the Orchids Festival... which I'll be blogging about next week. Spoiler: there were a LOT of orchids!

Want more Kew pics? Click here to see all the posts in the series so far.