Autumn at Kew: Glorious Glasshouses

It's time for another installment of OH MY GOSH KEW GARDENS IS SO LOVELY, YOU GUYS!!!

On my autumn visit to Kew I went for a long walk around the gardens admiring all the autumn colour and texture, and ooohing over the many magnificent trees.

I also spent lots of time in Kew's glasshouses, because they're a) lovely and warm to visit on chilly autumn/winter days and b) totally awesome. 

The green lushness of the Palm House is always a treat, and visiting during the quieter months of autumn means you get to enjoy it with fewer people around. Sit on empty benches. Soak up the quiet and the magnificence around you.

I absolutely cannot get enough of all the dramatic shapes in this place...

... and the interplay between the strict lines of the architecture and the soft wildness of the planting.

Being able to get up high and look down on all this lushness also never gets old! If I lived locally to this place I would come and sketch here aaaaall the time.

The Palm House might be forever fabulous but my unexpected highlight of the day turned out to be the Waterlily House.

I've blogged about this petite glasshouse before (it's a delight!), and knew it was a lovely little place to visit... but what really charmed me on this visit was the misty, slightly over-grown, slightly fading, autumnal vibe it had.

The same space as in the summer, but with a totally different mood! So good.

Catch up on all my posts about Kew Gardens.

View my travel archive for lots more posts about my days out in London and around the UK.

Autumn at Kew: Colour & Texture

Kew Gardens is full of loveliness in the autumn, and not just because of all the trees! Here's some of the gorgeous colour and texture I spotted on my autumn visit...

 

 

Some parts of the garden are fading at this time of year, while others are in full bloom and bursting with colour.

I was particularly charmed by this border. I don't know what kind of plants these are but they are rather wonderful, and not at all the usual shades I'd associate with autumn.

I loved this tree in the rock garden...

... these almost flame-like leaves...

 
... and these fabulous honey-coloured grasses.

They look so soft and fluffy, don't they?

There were still a few roses just clinging on in the rose garden. Fabulous bursts of colour popping up now and then like the memory of summer.

Plants take on a really sculptural quality in the autumn, don't you think?

In the spirit of leaving the best until last, my favourite autumnal find was this rather magical corner.

This is a lovely, peaceful spot all year round, with benches and a water sculpture within a circle of hedges. But with the leaves yellowing and illuminated by the warm autumn light? Truly wonderful, like something out of a fairytale.

Visit my crafty tutorial archive for lots of projects inspired by the magic of autumn.

Catch up on all my posts about Kew Gardens.

View my travel archive for lots more posts about my days out in London and around the UK.

Autumn at Kew Gardens: Trees!

Talking of the magic of trees and leaves in the autumn... here's a whole blog post full of pictures of lovely trees!

After my summer visits to Kew Gardens, I got busy with work and didn't have a chance to get into the city for ages. It was quite frustrating, but eventually I was able to carve out a free day when we were forecast some sunshine and I spent a wonderful, stress-relieving day wandering round the gardens enjoying all the delights of autumn.

 

Kew is home to a huge range of different trees, including some very old ones which have been on the grounds since the early days of the gardens.

It was a real treat to have such a gloriously sunny day in which to get out and stretch my legs and soak up all this autumnal goodness.

 

 

 

I change my mind all the time about which season is my favourite, but sunny days in autumn are particularly wonderful - the air crisp but not too cold, the bright colours of the trees glowing in the sunshine. Just magic.

Each day at Kew they run free guided tours of the gardens, which you can sign up for at the information desk near the main entrance. I went on quite a few of these during my year's membership (they showcased different seasonal highlights each time, I wasn't just repeating the same tour over and over!) and it was a real pleasure to learn some more about the plants in the gardens and the history of Kew itself.

On this visit I went on a tour where we looked at lots of different trees, and I learned lots of fascinating tree facts... which I have now forgotten but which greatly enriched my day.

After the tour was over I went back and retraced our steps to look again at all the trees we'd visited, and take photos of some of my favourites. I might have forgotten the facts we were told about them, but I'll always have these snapshots to look back on and to remind me to get out and really look at my local trees each autumn.

Catch up on all my posts about Kew Gardens.

View my travel archive for lots more posts about my days out in London and around the UK.

Summer at Kew: Blue Skies & Lush Greenery

My final summer visit to Kew Gardens was gloriously hot - in fact, I think I'd describe it as a little too hot. Instead of striding round the gardens like normal my pace was reduced to a veeeeeery slow wander with frequent rest stops in patches of shade, and the train journey home was rather sticky (ah, the joys of public transport in summer!).

If you're going to sit in a garden on a hot sunny day, though, this is not a bad one to choose!

The rock garden was looking lush in the sunshine...

 

 

... and the waterlily house was a riot of green.

 

 

 

Shady, tree-lined paths were a must this visit...

... as was a walk round a lake. I'm not sure if it's actually cooler near water or it just feels like it, but either way this was lovely!

I also went for a walk through the woodland at Kew (which is full of bluebells in the spring - something I sadly missed seeing due to deadlines! - and wonderfully shady on a hot summer's day), and visited Queen Charlotte's Cottage. The cottage was originally a private retreat of the royal family, and was gifted to Kew by Queen Victoria on the condition that the surrounding woodland was kept in its natural state.

Apparently there was once a paddock next to this cottage, known as the New Menagerie, which was a mini zoo for the royals to enjoy - including "a pair of black swans, buffaloes, the now extinct quagga (an animal similar to a zebra) and the first kangaroos to arrive in England".

There aren't any exotic animals at the cottage these days, but if you visit at the weekend you can go inside and imagine being a prince or princess stopping for afternoon tea on a walk through the gardens. (It's a shame they don't actually serve royal-themed afternoon teas here, because that would be awesome).

Finally, I visited the gardens that make up Kew's Japanese landscape...

... and the Great Pagoda (the base of which is another wonderfully shady spot to sit on a hot day!). The Pagoda was completed in 1762 and was being restored when I visited, but it's now open to the public again - if you fancy climbing those 253 steps!

I've been a bit wary of climbing towers since I visited York Minster and nearly had a panic attack climbing the central tower, but the Pagoda staircase doesn't look particularly claustrophobic (unlike the narrow stone staircase at York!)... and I bet the views are amazing. A return visit may be called for!*

Click here to catch up with all my posts about my visits to Kew during my year's membership (definitely one of the best things I've ever bought for myself).

Click here to view my travel archive for lots more posts about my days out in London and around the UK.

(*To Kew, not York Minster's tower! I'm proud that I conquered my fear and got to the top of the Minster's tower, but you couldn't pay me to climb it a second time!!).