Learn about Kew Gardens
Over a million people visit the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew each year. The 300 acres of gardens and botanical collections comprise a world-famous botanic garden, a UNESCO World Heritage site and a world-leader in plant-related collections, scientific research and international conservation.
Being designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site means they rank alongside Stonehenge, the Pyramids, and the Taj Mahal!
In 2009, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew celebrate their 25th anniversary. Celebrations include a visit by the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh on 5th May 2009 and the Palm House being featured as the the Google image on the same day!
Below you can find out more about Kew Gardens and
- celebrations to mark the 250th anniversary of Kew Gardens
- the significance of the gardens in heritage terms
- how to visit the gardens
- features of the gardens
- books about the gardens
- people associated with the garden
- exhibitions in the gardens
- trees in the gardens
You can find out about............
..........just click a link to go straight to that topic
- Celebrate 250 years of Kew Gardens
- BOOKS: The Gardens At Kew
- The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew - the website
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - a World Heritage Site
- BOOKS: The History of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Kew Gardens - Heritage and History
- BOOKS: A Year at Kew
- Events at Kew
- Major Art Exhibitions at Kew
- BOOKS: Exhibitions at Kew
- Making A Mark - at Kew Gardens
- The Glass Houses at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- BOOKS: Gardening at Kew
- Trees at Kew and the Treetop Walkway at Kew
- VIDEO: Autumn trees in Kew featuring treetop walkway
- BOOKS: All about Trees
- Reviews of Kew Gardens
- Famous artists associated with Kew
- VIDEO: Marianne North Gallery
- People associated with Kew Gardens
- Books about Kew's past and its plants
- Great Gardens in England
- Great Gardens in Europe
- Travels with a Sketchbook in......Kew
- Comments and Feedback
The Palm House at Kew
Celebrate 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.
"Our 250th year is a unique chance for us to share Kew's remarkable heritage and the important contribution we are making to plant conservation. The Gardens will be looking spectacular - there has been no better time to visit."
Stephen Hopper, Director of RBG Kew.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is celebrating its 250th Anniversary
The official 'birth' date of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is 1759. This marks the year that William Aiton was appointed to oversee care of the gardens at Kew, for Princess Augusta. - 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 will be taken on a tour of the world-famous botanic garden, a UNESCO World Heritage site and world-leader in plant-related collections, scientific research and international conservation. To commemorate Kew's 250th Anniversary, the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh will plant two trees.
- BBC Programme: Dan Cruickshank explores the fascinating history of Kew in a special 1 hour documentary
- The history of Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is traced in a special programme by presenter Dan Cruickshank, Cruickshank on Kew: The Garden That Changed the World to be screened on BBC TWO on Tuesday 28 April (repeated 6 May, 7pm, BBC 2). In RBG Kew's 250th anniversary year, Cruickshank combs the Gardens and digs through the archives to unearth some of the surprising stories that shaped the UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Cruickshank's travels take him from the royal gardens to the corridors of power and the outposts of Empire as he pieces together Kew's story. His globetrotting journey uncovers tales of bravery, high adventure, passion and drama. - A Glorious summer at Kew Gardens
- For the summer season the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) will be filled with festive horticultural plantings, stunning art and sculpture installations and fascinating exhibitions celebrating Kew's pivotal role as a world-leader in horticulture, plant science and conservation, now and for the next 250 years.
- Kew 250th Anniversary Walking Tours
- Kew 250th Anniversary Walking Tours
- Kew at 250 - Talks and Lectures
- Explore the many facets of Kew's work at celebratory events taking place on site at Kew or hosted by some of the partner institutions.
BOOKS: The Gardens At Kew
Published to celebrate 250 years of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
The Gardens at Kew
With over a million visitors a year, Kew is one of the world's best-loved gardens. As well as having a fascinating history and holding an unchallenged position as the world's leading botanical research institute, it is a paradise for plant lovers, offering a wealth of ideas and inspiration for every gardener.
Allen Paterson charts the evolution of Kew from private pleasure ground to public park to international institution. This story includes a cast of royalty, scientists, landscape designers and artists, at first being influenced by, later leading the development of plant collections elsewhere in Britain and around the world.
This book is illustrated with photographs of the garden today and archive illustrations from the Kew collection. It is published to tie in with the 250th Anniversary of Kew and is published by Frances Lincoln in association with the Royal Botanical Gardens Kew.
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The Pagoda at Kew (completed 1762)
The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew - the website
The living plant collection is the largest and most comprehensive in the world, containing representatives of more than one in eight of all flowering plant species. The herbarium contains a reference collection of over 6 million specimens of dried plants and fungi - the most comprehensive in the world
- 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:
- Visiting Kew and Wakehurst Place
Planning your visit How to find us - Kew Gardens - how to find us
- Visitor Information for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Visitor Information
- Strolling Map of Kew Printable Version (pdf)
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: Current events
- Events at Kew and Wakehurst Place
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: How You Can Help
- Discover how you can support Kew's conservation and research work at home and abroad. Become a Friend of Kew and ensure the future of the garden
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: About Us
- About the organisation at Kew
- The Guardian: Kew Gardens: 250 years of the botanical paradise (25 pictures)
- Kew Gardens in west London celebrates its 250th anniversary with a visit by the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh
Slideshow of 25 images of Kew in the last 250 years
The Orangery, Kew in April
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew - a World Heritage Site
From the UNESCO World Heritage website
Reasons for designation
Since the 18th century, the Botanic Gardens of Kew have been closely associated with scientific and economic exchanges established throughout the world in the field of botany, and this is reflected in the richness of its collections. The landscape features and architectural features of the gardens reflect considerable artistic influences both with regard to the European continent and to more distant regions.
Kew Gardens have largely contributed to advances in many scientific disciplines, particularly botany and ecology.
The landscape gardens and the edifices created by celebrated artists such as Charles Bridgeman, William Kent, Lancelot 'Capability' Brown and William Chambers reflect the beginning of movements which were to have international influence.
BOOKS: The History of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
The History of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew
An illustrated history of the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew over two centuries.
This beautifully illustrated book tells the story of how a stretch of quiet riverside land was gradually transformed by succeeding generations into the world's most plant-biodiverse place and a World Heritage Site.
The book traces Kew's long and complex history from its eighteenth century origins as two adjoining royal estates whose gardens pioneered some of the latest fashions in landscape design. Kew also played a significant role in the development of the natural resources of the British Empire, helping to establish botanical gardens in the colonies and introducing new commercial crops.
The Victorians brought new momentum to Kew when it became a national botanical garden, converting Georgian curiosity about the natural world into the beginnings of world-leading plant science laboratories. These activities have left a legacy of 41 listed structures, including five unique glasshouses, plus 300 glorious acres and historic landscapes. Today, the Gardens represent a great living directory of the world's plants, and the best-organised giant collection of preserved plant species, forming an international resource of vital importance to conservation projects.
Last, but not least, it is a social history of the Gardens, and of the people who made them. The author evaluates the contribution of the Royal Family, including court life at Kew, influential patrons such as Sir Joseph Banks, architects, landscape designers, successive directors and their staff to the improvement of Kew and its collections.
Ray Desmond, a former Chief Librarian and Archivist at Kew is the leading authority on the complex history of the Gardens. In researching this complete revision of his earlier work, he has unearthed new material, added two chapters plus additional historical plans of the Gardens, and discovered that Frederick Prince of Wales once kept a quagga at Kew.
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Kew Gardens - Heritage and History
A Word Heritage Site - designated in 2003
Kew has
- made uninterrupted contributions to botanical and environmental science since 1759,
- posses a unique collection of plants from all over the world,
- influenced the history of landscape and garden design around the world
- 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.
BOOKS: A Year at Kew
A Year at Kew
I loved watching the BBC series about Kew Gardens and this is the book created to accompany the first series.
A Year at Kew Garden provides a tour of this great botanical garden and looks at all its different aspects including the work of Kew's experts-in the greenhouses, labs, and libraries-that gives the garden its reputation as a center of scientific excellence.
Each monthly chapter highlights what is in flower at Kew, what is being planted or removed, and what special activities are going on there, including seasonal festivals and exhibitions.
Amazon Price: $22.95 (as of 11/29/2009)
The World of Kew (A New Year at Kew)
Another book in the Year at Kew series - this time called A New Year At Kew.
This particular edition places a particular emphasis on its conservation work in Britain and abroad. The World of Kew covers all of Kews projects, from helping to solve crimes to developing plant remedies to fight HIV.
Chapters are thematic, celebrating Kews past and future, and will feature many of the passionate characters from the series. As well as reintroducing endangered British species into the wild, Kew is developing a Millennium Seed Bank as part of a worldwide effort to safeguard 24,000 plant species against extinction, and working with botanic gardens and governments overseas to develop eco-tourism and businesses that use indigenous plants.
Amazon Price: $29.95 (as of 11/29/2009)
A Year in the Life of Kew Gardens
Joanna Jackson shows in her superb photographs every aspect of life through the year in Kew Gardens, while her informative text describes the gardens' history and work.
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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.
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.
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: The Shirley Sherwood Gallery
- The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art is the first gallery in the world to open year round dedicated to botanical art
- 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. - Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew: The Shirley Sherwood Gallery: Current Exhibitions
- The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art - The Power of Plants
14th March - July 2009
The 'Power of Plants' exhibition brings together a variety of paintings from Kew's collection, showing plants essential to human well-being. As well as paintings by artists such as Ferdinand Bauer, Georg Dionysus Ehret and Marianne North, there are illustrations from the 'Company School' commissioned by the East India Company from local artists. The exhibition also shows works from Curtis's Botanical Magazine (the world's oldest continuously published journal with coloured illustrations, launched as 'The Botanical Magazine' in 1787). Artists featured include Sydenham Teast Edwards (1768-1819), and Christabel King, Victoria Goaman and other modern botanical painters, who currently prepare work for this journal. - 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.
- 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. - Making a Mark: Exhibition review: The Art of Plant Evolution
- There have been a variety of exhibitions commemorating Darwin's 20th birthday celebrations this year and many have focused on evolution. 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.
- 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.
Henry Moore
This site includes references to the Henry Moore exhibition at Kew Gardens (see Exhibitions at Kew)-
Henry Moore - Resources for Art Lovers
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Henry Moore (1898-1986) was an English artist and sculptor who was probably the most celebrated sculptor of the twentieth century. Works were often sculpted in bronze or marble, many are monumental and he is particularly well known for his reclining...
BOOKS: Exhibitions at Kew
Moore at Kew
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Treasures of Botanical Art: Icons from the Shirley Sherwood and Kew Collections (Royal Botanic Garden)
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The Flowering Amazon Margaret Mee Paintings from the Royal Botanic Gardens,Kew
Release Date: 05/01/2004
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Making A Mark - at Kew Gardens
- 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.
I took the above photograph last October (2007) when the gallery was 'out of the ground'. - 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.
The Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew has a collection of 200,000 images of fine and rare examples of botanical art - but these could typically only be accessed by permission. Dr Shirley Sherwood has created what is probably the finest collection of contemporary botanical art today but was storing much of it despite arranging regular and temporary exhibitions of the Collection around the world. Neither had a satisfactory permanent home for their heritage collections - until now that is. - 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 book is extensively illustrated and features some 200 illustrations of paintings and drawings from both the Kew and Shirley Sherwood collections.
Sketch of The Palm House in Kew Gardens - copyright Katherine Tyrrell
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.
The Lily House at Kew in May
BOOKS: Gardening at Kew
Mediterranean Gardener
Hugo Latymer reveals the rich diversity of trees, shrubs, flowering plants and cacti that flourish in regions where summers are hot and dry, winters mild and wet.
His knowledge and enthusiasm are communicated in descriptions of more than 300 plants, most of them readily obtainable: Chinaberry trees with fragrant lilac flowers in spring, dark green twisted carobs, beautiful red-flowered climbing lilies. Many of the subjects are illustrated in superb colour photographs. Coded information at the head of each entry enables gardeners to make the best choices when confronted with the bewildering array of plants on offer.
Whether your garden is a patio of a few square metres or several hectares on a terraced hillside, you will find a wealth of ideas for colourful and interesting plants and a variety of garden designs. The author draws on 20 years' experience of gardening on the island of Mallorca.
Amazon Price: $16.47 (as of 11/29/2009)
Plant
This comprehensive and superbly illustrated encyclopaedia is the brainchild of the editor Janet Marinelli, the Director of Publishing at Brooklyn Botanic Garden.
The publication has been endorsed by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and by BGCI (Botanic Gardens Conservation International); some of the proceeds from the book will be donated to support conservation projects worldwide.
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Trees at Kew and the Treetop Walkway at Kew
Browse the trees in Kew
Learn about trees
See images of trees
- 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
VIDEO: Autumn trees in Kew featuring treetop walkway
BOOKS: All about Trees
Smithsonian Handbooks: Trees (Smithsonian Handbooks)
Smithsonian Handbooks are the most visually appealing guides on the natural world in the book marketplace. Featuring more than 500 full-color illustrations and photographs, along with detailed annotations, Smithsonian Handbooks make identification easy and accurate.
I picked this one because it gives you a small diagram of the overall shape of the tree but good clear photos of the leaves, buds and any flowers of fruit associated with individual trees. It was by far the clearest guide.
Amazon Price: $13.60 (as of 11/29/2009)
Trees (RSPB Pocket Nature)
Same author as the above - but I picked this one because it really is a pocket sized guide - and good for when you are out walking or visiting the gardens.
This one contains larger photographs of the size, shape and overall look of a tree and smaller photos of the leaves, fruits, flowers, berries and nuts
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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
Famous artists associated with Kew
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The Bauer Brothers - Resources for Botanical Art Lovers
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Many experts regard the Bauer brothers - Franz and Ferdinand, as being being two of the best botanical artists that have ever lived. Sir Joseph Banks spotted Franz Bauer's skills and arranged for him to become employed as "botanick Painter to his Ma...
VIDEO: Marianne North Gallery
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.
Books about Kew's past and its plants
- botanicus - Hortus Kewensis
- Links to scanned editions of Hortus Kewensis
Great Gardens in England
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Sissinghurst Castle Garden - a great garden
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Sissinghurst Castle Garden is probably the most famous 20th century garden in the UK and is an English Heritage Historic Garden Grade I. It's also been the subject of a BBC Documentary series. Find out more about this internationally renowned and ex...
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Munstead Wood - a great garden
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For garden designers, Munstead Wood is one of the most famous gardens in England. It was the home of Gertrude Jekyll who is renowned as a plantswoman. She created ways of planting which were very innovative in their day - and the garden at Munstead W...
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Great Dixter - a great garden
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Great Dixter in East Sussex was created by Christopher Lloyd and is a garden which is extremely popular with gardeners who like plants and flowers. Find out more about this extremely popular garden whether you love Great Dixter already or aim to visi...
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The Lost Gardens of Heligan - a great garden
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These Cornish Gardens are now famous in the UK. They were left to grow wild for decades before a major restoration project was started in 1996 by Tim Smit. Although still part of an ongoing project, the garden now attracts a huge number of visitors e...
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RHS Wisley - a Great Garden
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Wisley Garden, in Surrey, is the flagship garden of the Royal Horticultural Society and is probably the most visited garden in the UK after Kew Gardens. The garden combines science, horticultural endeadours and a pleasant environment for taking a wa...
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Tatton Park - a great garden
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The gardens at Tatton Park are rated as being among the most impressive in England. Tatton Park has also been the the home of the RHS Flower Show since 1999. The 50 acre gardens are laid out in a traditional Edwardian fashion around the mansion home...
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Bodnant Garden - A Great Garden
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Bodnant Garden in North Wales is one of the most beautiful gardens in the UK and is world-famous. It comprises lawns, terraced gardens and is noted for its botanical collections and wide range of plants. It's also a National Trust property and is man...
Great Gardens in Europe
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Giverny - a great garden
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Giverny is a very famous garden created and painted by Claude Monet. When I visited Giverny for the first time I was immediately struck by the fact that Monet did not only create art with oils. His garden was also an artistic creation and is quite s...
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The Great Garden Guide
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Visit the great gardens of the world to find out how they got that status! This site provides information about guides to the great gardens of the world. Please leave any suggestions for good quality guides as a comment. The picture is of the Cotta...
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Malmaison - a great garden
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The Château de Malmaison was the home of Napoléon's first wife - the Empress Joséphine and became the birthplace of the tea rose. The garden she developed included more than 250 varieties of roses and other exotic flowers from her native West Indies,...
Sketch of Afternoon Tea at the Orangery - copyright Katherine Tyrrell
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.....
When I travel, I sketch. When I sketch on my travels I record it here. Plus information about the history and facilities of places I visit and lots of related links for those who want to know more........
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- rockycha rockycha May 19, 2009 @ 11:00 am
- This lens is like an encyclopedia of knowledge - excellent work! *****
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- TheWhistler TheWhistler May 18, 2009 @ 11:46 am
- Wonderful lens, so informative, thank you so much.
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- makingamark makingamark May 17, 2009 @ 4:00 am
- Thanks Heather and Whitney
You can find more of my gardening lenses in all the "great gardens" sites listed up above
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- WhitneySegura WhitneySegura May 16, 2009 @ 10:38 pm
- Man, this is a great lenses, you have just inspired me to go make a kick butt gardening lense of my own! Do you have any other gardening blogs, sites, etc...?
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- Heather426 Heather426 Mar 11, 2009 @ 8:50 pm
- very informative and interesting.5*
