Plants and more at Kew Gardens
July 10th, 2010 by Zofia
In July I spent a sunny Sunday afternoon at the Royal Botanical Gardens – Kew Gardens
Throughout its history, the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew has made important contributions to increasing the understanding of the plant kingdom with many benefits for mankind.
Today it is still first and foremost a scientific institution. With its collections of living and preserved plants, of plant products and botanical information, it forms an encyclopaedia of knowledge about the plant kingdom.
From the moment I got through the main entrance I was impressed with this place. The map we received at the ticket gate made the task ahead seem slightly overwhelming as there was just so much to see over such a large expanse of land! So the four of us just started with the closest thing to us – the Palm House and then moved on from there.
So many wonderful plants and so many interesting structures within the grounds of Kew. The Palm House was full to the brim with every imaginable type of palm both big and small.
After a picnic lunch on the grass in one of the pretty garden spaces we ventured into the next indoor space – the Princess of Wales Conservatory which contains ten different climate zones. There are Madagascan baobab trees, climbing vanilla orchids from Central America, carnivorous plants from Asia eating flies for lunch, cacti and waterlily ponds. There is also a butterfly room which is wonderful – it contains a many different species of butterfly just flying around you and landing wherever they please, including on Brigitte!!
My favourite discovery in the Conservatory was the Cacao plant! How tasty, the plant that brings us the key ingredient for making Chocolate 
Just outside the Princess of Wales Conservatory we came across a Time Capsule of seeds which was buried in 1985 by David Attenborough!
At this point our group split in two and Ketti and I went one way while Brigitte and Luke went another way. Ketti and I walked past Kew Palace and stopped in for a cold drink and slice of cake in the Orangery.
We then moved on to the Japanese garden where we found a replica Japanese Minka house and also a bench to rest upon which was called the Good Friend’s Bench
The river crossing was lovely. They have a beautiful modern bridge designed with a very organic curve which fits the landscape nicely. On the other side, we wandered to the base of the Xstrata Treetop Walkway and made out way up the spiral staircase and onto the walkway itself which provided wonderful views across the gardens and beyond and also interesting views of the top of some very tall trees. For the most part I am not that scared of heights but I must admit that at the hight of that walkway which was made from some sort of metallic mesh that allowed views to the ground below rather than something a bit more solid, like wooden planks, made me a bit nervous. My nerves were not helped by the people who were running along the walkway and making it shake!! But I survived and enjoyed the experience none the less
The Pagoda was the next interesting structure we encountered. Built around 1762, the Pagoda is a ten-storey octagonal structure standing nearly 50 m high. We could not go inside it but it looks very impressive from the outside.
The Temperate House, the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world, was a great treat as this was where Ketti and I discovered a taste for home – the New Zealand Plant collection. Although a very small collection it was nice to see something familiar in this huge garden on the other side of the world! It was also nice to see exotic plants from other parts of the world.
All in all it was a wonderful day of discovery, fresh air, beautiful plants, and good company.
I definitely recommend a visit to Kew Gardens if you ever get the opportunity.