Kew Gardens - My Top Five Tips in Pics
The largest waterlily in the world, the ’Victoria Boliviana’ recently discovered by Kew can be seen in Waterlily House. Their huge circular leaves are strong enough to hold the weight of a small child.
The Hive by artist Wolfgang Buttress is a tribute to Britain’s honeybees. Constructed from aluminium with 1,000 led lights, it won the 2016 landscape institute award. It’s great to see how people interact with life inside a beehive.
The Great Pagoda, designed by Sir William Chambers and built in 1762 was given as a present to Princess Augusta the founder of the gardens. The Pagoda was closed during our visit due to the extreme heatwave. It’s an impressive building with 80 dragons and 253 steps. Pagodas should have odd floors, 7 believed to represent 7 steps to heaven, Kew has 10.
A living laboratory dedicated to the Earth’s tropical regions, the Palm House is a chance to enjoy the botanical wonder of a rainforest only 30 minutes from central London. Home to tropical plants including the oldest pot plant in the world, growing in the Palm House for over 250 years.
You can also see the world’s biggest waterlilies and their flowers in the Princess of Wales Conservatory. The new species, ‘Victoria Boliviana’ produces flowers, they open one at a time and just for two nights turning from white to pink.
Along with the incredible cacti and bamboo gardens, the real stars of the show at Kew are the flowers. I found a succulent called ‘Black Rose’ it’s a deep burgundy colour and really striking to look at. The Red Hot Pokers are also very impressive. Kew catalogues, protects and researches plant life, helping the good fight against biodiversity loss. Plants and fungi are critical to the future of food, clean air and medicine. A visit to Kew is an investment into our future - our future is botanic!
Bonus tip for adults: there’s an independent wine shop close-by called the ’The Good Wine Shop Kew’. We dropped in for a chilled glass of Lucie Thieblemont, Cremant de Bourgogne Brut Zero - a French sparkler with gentle bubbles and a Pinot Noir Grape from the Burgundy region. Our final destination, the newly opened Peggy Jean at Riverside Green, a floating restaurant in Richmond with Aussie vibes and an Antipodean inspired menu from the Daisy Green Collection. With views along the River Thames, we watched the sun go down whilst enjoying a great selection of small plates including; fresh calamari, summer greens, feta in filo with thyme honey and toasted sesame seeds, charred corn ribs and padron peppers in jalapeno aioli. The end to a perfect day. A gargantuan thank you to Cousin Cat.
Photos sarahhedges.london.