The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew

Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew - Science & Collections

Its scope and purpose - plant collections, science, research and art

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - Home Page

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is one of the world's leading botanic gardens. Holding over 1 in 8 of known plant species, the gardens at Kew and Wakehurst Place offer a unique day out in stunning surroundings. The site also offers information about Kew's science and access to its databases.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Collections

Recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003, Kew's rich horticultural and scientific history is interwoven with royal heritage and its historic importance. It houses the earth's largest and most diverse botanical collections, including reference collections. Browse this section to gain an insight into Kew's mission to inspire and deliver science-based plant conservation worldwide, enhancing the quality of life.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Collections - Living Plants

The living plant collections at Kew reflect global plant diversity. The collections include carnivorous plants, cacti, arboreta, British natives, ferns, palms, grasses, and economic plants.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Collections: Herbarium

Founded in 1853, the Herbarium at Kew has a central rôle for research on plant and mycological biodiversity on earth, with 7 million specimens, including approximately 350,000 type specimens. The collection is still growing with an yearly addition of around 37,000 new specimens

Kew Collections - Plant Artefacts

Discover Kew's historic plant artefact collection.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Library, Art & Archives

Illustrations collections: The Library has more than 200,000 prints and drawings, including original works of art in various media.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Collections - Microscopic

Over 95,000 slides cover a range of different plant parts. It is the largest collection of its type in existence. It includes sections of both vegetative (leaf, stem, root and wood) and floral material.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Library, Art & Archives

One of the most important botanical reference sources in the world, Library, Art & Archives contains more than half a million items, including books, botanical illustrations, photographs, letters and manuscripts, periodicals, biographies and maps.

Kew Gardens: 250 years of the botanical paradise | Life and style | guardian.co.uk

Kew Gardens in west London celebrates its 250th anniversary

The herbarium at Kew Gardens | Environment | guardian.co.uk

Images from the herbarium at Kew Gardens, about to open its doors to the public to present the world's largest collection of botanical art

Visiting The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew

where is it and what's on

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - visit home page

Explore glasshouses, landscapes and 250 years of history at the world's most famous garden. Climb to the treetops, delve into rainforest or discover more on a guided tour.

Visit Kew Gardens: How to Find Us

Kew Gardens is 10 miles from central London and adjacent to the river Thames, and is easy to reach via public transport. Find directions here.

Visit Kew - Opening Times

Kew Gardens is open daily at 9.30am every day of the year, except Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. More details of the closing times of the different facilities here.

Visit Kew Gardens - Admission prices

Admission prices for day visit to Kew Gardens. Also information on Kew Palace admission prices and Gift Tickets for Kew Gardens.

Visit Kew - Which Gate to Use

Kew Gardens covers over 300 acres and there are four entrance gates. This page helps to explain which gate is most suitable for your visit.

Visit Kew Gardens - Garden Attractions A-Z

Explore the many features and attractions at Kew Gardens through our A-Z listing

Visit Kew Gardens - What's on

Find details on events, tours, talks and activities for children.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Visitor Information

Strolling Map of Kew Printable Version (pdf)

Visit Kew Gardens: Parents' survival guide

Bringing young children to Kew? Find out all you need to know to plan your perfect family day out. Find out more here.

Visit Kew Gardens: Access Guide

Details and guides for accessible facilities and routes within the gardens . Plan your day at Kew Gardens with our Access Guide. Find out more here.

Flickr: Your Kew

Share your photos of Kew Gardens and Wakehurst Place on Flickr. We love to see them...

Kew Gardens - Social Media sites

Facebook: Kew Gardens (official site)

Join Kew's growing network of friends on our official Facebook page. Get unique access to behind the scenes updates, take part in exclusive competitions, share your photos and be among the first to know what's happening at Kew.

Twitter: Kew Gardens (official site)

Kew (kewgardens) is on Twitter. Sign up for Twitter to follow Kew (kewgardens) and get their latest updates

YouTube - Kew Gardens (Official Channel)

Official channel for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Flickr: Kew on Flickr's Photostream

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew official photostream on Flickr.

Kew Gardens - Heritage and History

A Word Heritage Site - designated in 2003

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: World Heritage Site

On 3 July 2003 the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew was officially inscribed on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO.

The eminence of Kew today is thanks to a succession of avid collectors, visionary scientists, inspired landscape architects and redoubtable gardeners who, over the centuries, have grown and developed the gardens, and the collections they contain.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - UNESCO World Heritage Centre

Date of Inscription: 2003
Criteria: (ii)(iii)(iv)
Core zone: 132 ha Buffer zone: 350 ha
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest Greater London
N51 28 55.0 W0 17 38.5
Ref: 1084

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: Timeline

A timeline for Kew Archaeological Background
The Medieval
16th & 17th Centuries: Royal Influences 1700 - 1772: Two Royal Gardens
1773 - 1820: George III & Joseph Banks 1820 - 1841: Gardens in Decline
1841 - 1885: The expansion of Kew
1885 - 1945

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: People

The powerful personalities, their vision for and contributions to Kew.
- Royalty
- Directors
- Landscapers, Architects & Gardeners
- Botanists
- Artists

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: Places

Places

These pages provide a personal tour of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Few visitors know their way around every part of the Gardens' 300 acres (121 ha). Fewer still have detailed knowledge of all 39 of the listed buildings that come under Kew's care.

Here is an opportunity to explore Kew. The Gardens have been divided into convenient areas and moving the cursor will show links to places of interest.

People associated with Kew Gardens

The Joseph Dalton Hooker website: Welcome!

Site about the life and work of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker, botanist, explorer, plant collector and friend of Charles Darwin. Maintained by Dr Jim Endersby

Kew Under Hooker - Biographical information (Part 4)

Biography of Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker:
In 1865 Hooker's father died and Joseph succeeded him as director of Kew. Hooker was by this time a highly-regarded botanist with a world-wide reputation....Hooker remained director of Kew until his retirement in 1885. These twenty years were marked by the continuation and expansion of Kew's imperial role.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: People: Artists: Walter Hood Fitch

Artists - Walter Hood Fitch

Rocky Road: Sir Joseph Banks

Banks took three major voyages. The first was to Newfoundland. The second was with James Cook on the Endeavour. The initial plan for that journey was to observe the Transit of Venus but weather interfered. On to the next set of plans, the travelers set out to discover Terra Australis Incognita, an undiscovered landmass rumored to exist in the far south. On that trip, the voyagers managed to see Tahiti, Bora Bora, New Zealand and Australia, Banks collected thousands of plant and animal specimens and took them back to Europe.

Marianne North Gallery - a video

The Marianne North Gallery at Kew Gardens has reopened following a refurbishment. It still looks exactly the same inside - her work fills the walls. This is a quick pan round to see the impact if the layout.

250 years of Kew Gardens

the world-famous botanic garden, a UNESCO World Heritage site and world-leader in plant-related collections, scientific research and international conservation.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is celebrating its 250th Anniversary

Queen's visit celebrates Kew's 250th anniversary

The Queen, accompanied by The Duke of Edinburgh, will visit the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to mark the 250th anniversary on Tuesday 5 May and plant two trees

Kew Gardens: 250 years of the botanical paradise | Life and style | guardian.co.uk

Kew Gardens in west London celebrates its 250th anniversary - a slideshow of images

Books about Kew's past and its plants

botanicus - Hortus Kewensis

Links to scanned editions of Hortus Kewensis

Explore Kew Gardens on Street View

Kew News - Kew Gardens On Google Street View

Specially collected imagery of iconic British locations has been made available for people to explore in Google Street View, for the first time. Explore Kew Gardens and take in over 100 different species of plants, iconic garden attractions and landscapes.

The Glass Houses at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: Places: Palm House

Built 1844-48 by Richard Turner to Decimus Burton's designs, the Palm House is Kew's most recognisable building, having gained iconic status as the world's most important surviving Victorian glass and iron structure.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: Places: Palm House - restoration

By the early 1950s, the Palm House had been subjected to over a hundred years of external weathering, together with high temperature and humidity inside. These adverse conditions had taken their toll and restoration was long overdue.

Kew: A year at Kew: Places: Kew Gardens: Palm House

Plants found in the Palm House

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: Places: Waterlily House

The Waterlily House is another of Kew's classic listed buildings, again with ironwork by Richard Turner. Built in 1852, it was then the widest single span glasshouse in the world, designed specifically around a 36 ft (11 m) concrete pond to house the huge attraction of the age, Victoria amazonica, the giant Amazonian waterlily.

Kew: A year at Kew: Places: Kew Gardens: Waterlily House

Today, it is the hottest and most humid environment at Kew and contains, as well as waterlilies, other very interesting plants.

Please note: the Waterlily House closes in November, re-opening in April

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: Places: Temperate House

Once the largest plant house in the world and now the world's largest surviving Victorian glass structure, the Temperate House is another of Decimus Burton's designs. At 4,880 square metres, it is the largest public glasshouse at Kew, twice the size of the Palm House.

Kew: A year at Kew: Places: Kew Gardens: Temperate House

Today, the planting has reverted to Decimus Burton's original geographical scheme and includes many unusual crop plants from warmer climates.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: Places: Princess of Wales Conservatory

Kew's most complex public glasshouse

Opened by Diana, Princess of Wales on 28 July 1987, this most complex of Kew's public glasshouses commemorates Princess Augusta who married Frederick, Prince of Wales, in 1736 and who founded the Gardens.

Ten different environments cover the whole range of conditions in the tropics, ranging from scorching arid desert to moist tropical rainforest; all computer-controlled under one roof.

Kew: A year at Kew: Places: Kew Gardens: Princess of Wales Conservatory

Plants found in the Princess of Wales Conservatory

Kew: A year at Kew: Places: Kew Gardens: Evolution House

Visiting the Evolution House is a fascinating walk through over 3,500 million years of plant evolution.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: Places: Nash Conservatory

Previously known as the Architectural Conservatory, this is the oldest of the 19th Century glasshouses at Kew. It was originally one of two pavilions designed by John Nash for the gardens at Buckingham Palace, but William IV moved this one to Kew in 1836.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: History and Heritage: Places: Orangery

This 1761 building is the earliest at Kew designed by Sir William Chambers and also the largest classical style building in the Gardens, measuring 28 m (92 ft) long by 10 m (33 ft) deep. At one time, it was the largest glasshouse in England.

Kew: Places: Kew Gardens: Alpine House

There have been Alpine Houses at Kew since 1887. The first was enlarged in 1891, and again in 1938 when it was rebuilt along traditional lines with brick foundations, wooden sides and a low-pitched, glass roof. Plants in pots were displayed on wood stagings either side of a central path. Popular with visitors to the gardens, it was closed in 1981 with the opening of a new house.

That second Alpine House closed in 2004 when a brand new house was planned. The renowned Kew collection of alpines is now housed in a third and strikingly innovative Alpine House, which opened in March 2006 at the north end of the Rock Garden, which itself has its own fine collection of alpines and bulbs.

Events at Kew

a selection of the events at Kew Gardens

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Tropical Nursery Open Day

Tropical Nursery Open Day
Sun 21 Sept 2008
Explore the secrets of the Tropical Nursery, Kew's largest glasshouse which is normally
off limits to the public. At 6,500 square metres it is even larger than the Temperate House and home to thousands of plants from 21 different climatic zones.

Garden Photographer of the Year - Competition exhibition

Website for International Garden Photographer of the Year (GPOTY) competition and exhibition 2009 at Kew.

The Garden Photographer of the Year 2008 exhibition is now open at Kew Gardens, London. The exhibition is part of the Kew Summer Festival from May to November 2008. Kew Gardens is a photographer's paradise - come and be inspired!

All of the finalist and winners' photographs are on display.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Garden Photographer of the Year

International Garden Photographer of the Year Competition
Now calling for entries for 2009
The Garden Photographer of the Year competition is perfect for anyone who loves flora, nature and photography.

Christmas at Kew Gardens

Christmas 2010 at Kew Gardens

Christmas 2010 at Kew Gardens. Carousel rides, face-painting, horse-drawn carriages, and Santa in his grotto - it's all going on at Kew Gardens this festive season.

Christmas 2010 At Kew - Kids Activities

Children's Christmas Activities at Kew Gardens, south west London. A great festive day out for kids - with face-painting, carousel rides, christmas decoration workshops and Father Christmas in his grotto.

Christmas 2010 At Kew - Explore The Gardens

There's plenty to discover at Kew Gardens this winter. Find out about evergreens on a free guided tour, learn about sage, rosemary and thyme in a hands-on session, or warm up in one of Kew's cafes and restaurants.

Current Exhibitions At Kew Gardens

What's On At Kew Gardens - The Secret Garden, The Botanical Brush, From Eye to Hand and Hidden Treasure

These exhibitions feature a wide range of contemporary botanical art produced by artists associated with Kew, alongside work produced by members of two well established and flourishing English botanical art societies. This is the first time that original artwork has been offered for sale at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery

What's On At Kew Gardens - First Time Out Exhibition

First Time Out is a collaboration between five London museums. A unique exhibition, First Time Out includes six artefacts that have never been displayed before.

Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art

Kew Gardens = The Shirley Sherwood Gallery

Find out more about the Shirley Sherwood Gallery at Kew Gardens, London. Dedicated solely to botanical art, the Gallery holds regular exhibitions and is open throughout the year.

Making a Mark: Kew opens the world's first dedicated botanical art gallery

On Saturday 19th April (2008), The Shirley Sherwood Gallery opened at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. It will exhibit precious works of botanical art from the collections of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Dr Shirley Sherwood, many of which have never been on public display before. Botanical art is experiencing a resurgence of interest amongst artists, collectors, botanists and naturalists. However, until now, there hasn't been a Gallery anywhere in the world which is totally dedicated to the year round display of botanical art.

Making a Mark: Kew Gardens - two women and two galleries for botanical art

This year there will be two galleries for botanical art in Kew Gardens. The North Gallery, which houses the work of Marianne North, will be joined by a brand new gallery exhibiting the Shirley Sherwood Collection. This new gallery will be the first in the world to be wholly devoted to exhibitions of botanical art and is due to open this Spring and will have two major exhibitions in the Spring and Autumn - read on for more details.

Making a Mark: Treasures of Botanical Art - a recommended read

Treasures of Botanical Art by Shirley Sherwood and Martyn Rix has been published by Kew Publishing to mark the inaugural exhibition of the The Shirley Sherwood Gallery in Kew Gardens, the first gallery in the world to be dedicated to year round exhibitions of botanical art.

The Marianne North Gallery

Kew Collections - Marianne North Gallery - Marianne in my home

Kew Gardens - find out about Marianne in my home, Kew's community engagement and outreach project

Kew Collections - Marianne North and Kew

Kew Gardens - Marianne North Gallery. In 1871, Marianne at the age of 40 began her astonishing series of trips around the world inspired by earlier travels with her father and the exotic plant collections she saw at Kew. Find out more about her unique relationship with Kew Gardens.

Visit Kew Gardens - Marianne North Gallery

Kew Gardens visitor attractions: Marianne North Gallery. Born in Hastings in 1830, Marianne North devoted her life to travelling the world and painting plants.

Kew Collections - Marianne North Gallery - Restoring the Gallery

Kew Gardens: Marianne North Gallery. Find out about Kew's conservation project to restore this amazing building.

YouTube - The Marianne North Gallery

The Marianne North Gallery at Kew Gardens has reopened following a refurbishment. It still looks exactly the same inside - her work fills the walls. This is a quick pan round to see the impact if the layout.

Making a Mark: Marianne North Gallery reopens at Kew Gardens

The Marianne North Gallery at Kew Gardens has been restored to good order and reopened last month after a two year conservation project costing £3.7 million.

Buy Botanical Prints from Kew

Botanical Art - Kew Botanical Prints

Botanical art prints & canvases from Kew Gardens.

Botanical Illustration - Kew Botanical Prints

Botanical Illustrations for fine art prints & canvases by Kew Gardens.

Japanese Floral Prints - Kew Botanical Prints

Japanese Floral prints from Kew Gardens. Highest quality fine art from just £15

Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art - Kew Botanical Prints

Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art

Rachel Pedder-Smith - Kew Botanical Prints

Rachel Pedder-Smith

Past Exhibitions - Major Art Exhibitions at Kew

botanical art, photography, sculpture

Henry Moore At Kew

Moore at Kew has now finished. This landmark exhibition of monumental works by the internationally acclaimed sculptor Henry Moore ran from 15 September 2007 to 30 March 2008. Twenty-eight outdoor sculptures were sited within Kew's unique World Heritage landscape, making this the first exhibition of its kind ever to be held in London.

Making A Mark: The Shirley Sherwood Gallery - The Power of Plants

My review of The Power of Plants 14th March - July 2009
The 'Power of Plants' exhibition exhibited artwork about plants essential to human well-being. As well as paintings by artists such as Ferdinand Bauer, Georg Dionysus Ehret and Marianne North, it included illustrations from the 'Company School' commissioned by the East India Company from local artists.

Shirley Sherwood Gallery - Down Under: Contemporary Botanical Artists from Australia and New Zealand in the Shirley Sherwood Collection

An exhibition about a group of Australian botanical artists, who are amongst the best in the world today. These paintings range from flower studies and still lifes to detailed botanical illustrations of native plants, showing a great range of styles and techniques. Studies are in watercolour on paper or vellum, gouache, acrylic or coloured pencil and copper plate etching. Most of the work has been executed in Australia or New Zealand but many of the artists are widely travelled and have lived or taught in Europe and elsewhere.

MAKING A MARK: Exhibition review: The Art of Plant Evolution

The Art of Plant Evolution, The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, Kew Gardens (until January 3 2010)
I recently went to see The Art of Plant Evolution at Kew Gardens. It manages to neatly combine art and science by displaying botanical paintings in the latest evolutionary sequence revealed by recent DNA analysis.

Kew: Artists' Kew: Home page

Artists' Kew - A Celebration of Kew
Artists' KEW was an exhibition of original contemporary artworks which celebrated the Royal Botanic Gardens and its surroundings in Kew.

Kew Apps: Botanical Art - Kew Databases

Hortus Nitidissimis — Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

A year in a brilliant garden of exquisite flowers represented in beautiful pictures.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Flora Indica

This web site, the creation of which was generously funded by the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, brings together Roxburgh's three-volume text-only Flora Indica published posthumously in 1832, with the illustrations he commissioned of most of the plants he described. The result is a reference work Roxburgh himself might well have envisaged.

Trees at Kew and the Treetop Walkway at Kew

Kew's Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop walkway

Kew's Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop walkway takes you under the ground and then 18 metres (59ft) up in the air, bringing you close to trees in a way that will take your breath away.

BBC NEWS | England | New walkway at Kew Gardens

A new walkway through the botanic gardens at Kew is promising a completely new perspective on the parkland. The Tree Top Walkway is 18m high and 200m long

This is a BBC video of the walkway and the views plus an interview with the architect Julia Barfield - who also designed the London Eye

BBC - London - Nature - Tour the treetops

Take a stunning journey high above Kew Gardens with the new 18 metre high treetop walkway.

Interactive Map of all the important trees in Kew Gardens

Select a tree to see more information about it

Kew Gardens - Learn about Trees

In Learn About Trees you can test your tree knowledge in our Tree Teasers game

Kew Gardens - Browse Trees

An extensive inventory of trees - you can search for a species by type, family, place of origin or collection

Kew Gardens - Tree Identification

Identifying trees can be tricky but our interactive tool helps you do precisely that.

Simply select the properties - bark, fruit, shape profile and leaves - of the tree you're interested in, and 'Submit' to show all the matching results from the 100+ species in our Trees@Kew database.

Flickr: People's Arboretum

The People's Arboretum is part of Kew's Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway website. Photos placed in this group may also be displayed in the People's Arboretum on the Kew website.

This Flickr group is for your photographs of trees both in Kew Gardens, Wakehurst Place, and around the world.

You can add photos of any species of tree to this group, but only those currently listedin the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway database may be displayed on the website gallery.

Flickr: Explore photos from the People's Arboretum group on the map

Flickr Map of the People's Arboretum

People's Arboretum pool slideshow on Flickr

The People's Arboretum pool - slideshow

Trees at Kew - Field Blog

Perspectives on trees from around the world

Reviews of Kew Gardens

UKTV Gardens: My Favourite Garden - Benedict Allen (Kew Gardens)

My Favourite Garden
It was a visit to Kew Gardens that sparked Benedict Allen's passion for exploration.

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - a review from the Garden and Landscape Guide

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - a review from the Garden and Landscape Guide

Travels with a Sketchbook in......Kew

Travels with a Sketchbook in.......: Good Friday at Kew Gardens

(April 2007)
We're having good weather in London at the moment and so we decided to spend yesterday - Good Friday - at Kew Gardens. Everything is bursting out of the ground, the daffodils are virtually over but the spring borders are showing off although not everything is out yet. I had fun photographing tulips, magnolias and the blossom from some varieties of prunus. I

Travels with a Sketchbook in.......: The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in June

(June 2007)
On Friday we went to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. I can highly recommend Kew Gardens in June - it was full of flowers associated with Georgia O'Keeffe - arum lilies, poppies and irises. There were also masses of flowers more commonly associated with English Gardens - such as peonies and roses - although both of course came from elsewhere originally.

Travels with a Sketchbook in.......: Henry Moore in Kew Gardens

(October 2007)
...otherwise known as monumental sculpture in a world heritage setting!

At the end of October last year, we visited Kew Gardens on a sunny afternoon in order to get a lot of a fresh air, see the trees on the turn, walk a lot, sketch a bit and view some of the very many works by Henry Moore which are currently dotted around the Gardens until the end of March. You can see images of all the works on the Henry Moore Foundation website

Travels with a Sketchbook in.......: Sketching the Japanese Landscape at Kew Gardens

April 2008
I'd completely forgotten that there was a Japanese Garden in Kew (no 17 on the map). I was actually on the trail of the non-existent blossom when I found it. It seemed to contain one of the very few cherry trees in the whole of Kew that was actually in blossom. However, when I got there I decided it must be fate - given my current project on Japanese Art - and started to sketch.

Travels with a Sketchbook in.......: Taking tea at Kew Gardens

May 2008
A lot of my plein air sketches at the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew seem to be of people having a cup of tea. Maybe because that's often the only time I sit down and can sketch. Otherwise, because it's a very big garden (over 300 acres), it's sometimes feels a bit like a route march while I scurry around trying to see what has changed!

Travels with a Sketchbook in.......: Autumn at the Sackler Crossing, Kew Gardens (October 2009)

I'm glad we were able to pay a visit to Kew Gardens before all the leaves began to fall from the trees. The colours were glorious in parts of the gardens and the trees next to the Sackler Crossing were particularly vivid.

Travels with a Sketchbook in.......: Peacocks, palms and magnolias - Kew Gardens in April (April 2010)

Having admired the magnolias we settled for a piece of cake and a nice cup of tea at the Orangery Cafe. It was great to be able to finally experience the sun making a reappearance while sat on the terrace