One Tiny Corner of Kew Gardens

If the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London, is on your bucket list and you've never visited before, that's good news and bad news.

The good news: It's well worth the trip and the visit.

The bad news? You won't have enough time to see it all. A person could visit Kew every day for a year and still find something new. Covering 132 hectares (326 acres), Kew's beginnings as a botanical garden date to 1759, when Princess Augusta, mother of King George III, started developing a small (3.6 hectares) scientific botanic garden. In 2003, Kew Gardens was put on the Unesco World Heritage list.



When my family traveled to London last October to visit my daughter who was studying there, Kew was definitely one of the highlights. But we had only a few hours for the tour. Consequently, we saw just one tiny corner of the botanic garden (roughly emphasized in the lower right, northeast, corner of the map above). Now, of course, I must go back someday!



We lucked out the day of our visit--the sky was partly cloudy, with enough sun to keep us warm, but not too much brightness to wash out the color. We entered the gardens at the Victoria Gate, and one of the first things we saw was the Palm House across from the Palm House Pond--a remnant of Kew's original lake.

I knew Kew was big, and I knew we had limited time. And because it was such a lovely day, we headed toward the northeast corner--my guess for areas of particular personal interest.



One of the first plants that caught my eye was this lovely specimen Mahonia plant. I believe it was a hybrid (Mahonia x media).



Nearby was a dramatic patch of Chile Rhubarb (Gunnera manicata).



Although not at its peak, I'm showing this rambling photo so you can see how large the foliage was and how large the patch of Gunnera. It was a commanding presence at the shore of the pond.



From the Palm House Pond, we headed toward the Woodland Garden. Barrenworts (Epimedium spp.) of various species lined the path, providing plentiful groundcover throughout the wooded sections of Kew.



In the Woodland Garden, I was surprised to see many North American native plants I was familiar with, among other plants of interest. One example was White Baneberry (Actaea alba).

Other woodland plants included:



Large hedgerows of Camellias (C. japonica);



Masterwort (Astrantia major 'Rubra');



And a lovely wall lined with Chilean Bell Flowers (Lapageria rosea).

Somewhere between the woodland garden and the plant family beds, were assorted other curious and beautiful plants, including:



Giant Lilies (Cardiocrinum giganteum var. yunnanense) which had formed commanding seedheads;



Toad Lilies (Tricyrtis formosana);



Various Geraniums, including this stunning beauty from the Himalayas (Geranium himalayense);



And Cape Lilies (Nerine bowdenii 'Mark Fenwick').



Throughout Kew, there were numerous statuaries, including this bronze of a young farmer, titled, "Out in the Fields."



A particularly fascinating section of Kew, for me, was the Plant Family Beds--originally a kitchen garden that supplied produce for the royals. Today, the plants in this section are grouped together in families, with information about those families, and genuses and species. It's a botanist's paradise. I could have spend the entire day (or more) in this section, alone.

Just a small sampling of the huge selection of plants here:



Knotgrass (Polygonum coriaceum);



And 'Orange Crest' Trollius (T. X cultorum).



Down the middle of the Plant Family Beds was the Rose Pergola--which I can only imagine must be stunning in late spring and summer. It was lovely in autumn, too, and I saw some of the largest Rose hips I've ever seen. I may be exaggerating, but I remember these being the size of small apples--like two inches in diameter. I believe this particular Rose was 'Paul's Lemon Pillar,' if my photo records are correct.



Next, we travelled through the Bonsai House. It always amazes me to see common trees I'm familiar with grown as miniatures in such an artful way.



We decided to eat lunch at the Orangery Restaurant, which turned out to be an excellent choice. The food was fresh, delicious, and reasonably priced. Plus, the building, constructed in 1761, previously was actually a hothouse for growing citrus plants. As a restaurant, it was a bright, cheerful, light-filled refreshment stop, with great views out onto the gardens.



Outside the Orangery we saw the timeline showing key highlights of Kew's history, including this sign and the stone shown at the beginning of this post, among others.

Along the paths between the Orangery and surrounding garden areas were unique tree species, including:



The Monkey Puzzle tree (Araucaria araucana);



And this Wollemi Pine (Wollemia nobilis), planted by Prince Philip to commemorate Kew's 250th anniversary in 2009.

After lunch, we spent some time in the Grass Garden, which I profiled shortly after our trip last year. (You can click on the link for that post.)





It was fun to see seasonal produce that had grown at Kew on display, with educational information for children and adults. The theme last fall was "IncrEdibles: A Voyage Through Autumn's Edible Delights."

We finished out the day winding through the Secluded Garden, the Duke's Garden, and other sections on our way back to the Victoria gate to catch The Tube back to our hotel. Here are a few of the lovelies that greeted us:



Autumn Crocuses (Colchicum spp.);



A lovely combination of Dahlias (hybrid unknown) and Pineapple Lilies (Eucomis comosa);



Rose Leaf Sage (Salvia infolucrata 'Bethellii'), which I seem to remember being popular with the pollinators;



A beautiful little statuary in a pond;



More incredibly vibrant hybrid Dahlias;



A majestic Japanese Maple (Acer palmitum) at peak color;



And a stunning wall of grapevines that looked luscious and tasty (we did not sample them, but they looked fabulous).

I didn't post about this visit until now for various reasons. But the timing seems right for the season. Looking back at these photos has me nostalgic: I do hope I can get back to Kew at some point.

Plant of the Month: Purple Love Grass

I'm starting to appreciate grasses more. I think this new appreciation started at Kew Gardens in London (you can click the link to read a previous post about it). Scott Weber's blog at Rhone Street Gardens also provides continuous inspiration regarding the beauty and creative uses of grasses in a garden setting.

Lovely view we happened upon during a hike earlier this summer.

One of my favorite native, local grasses is Purple Love Grass (Erogrostis spectabilis). (Isn't that a great Latin name?)



When oblique late-summer light hits it just right, Purple Love Grass is a stunning sight to behold.

Bright pink cloud.

Depending on its stage during the growing season and the way the light hits it, tufts of this grass appear bright green, purple, pink, or bright pink.

Our meadow: E. spectabilis starting to brown, but still lovely.

Interestingly, we have a naturally occurring patch of it up at the cottage. It stretches through our property, between the properties of the neighbors on both sides. They were friends--two couples who've since moved away and/or moved on. But the Purple Love Grass remains. Isn't that sweet?

The neighbors had asked if we minded if they walked through our property to visit each other, and we said "No problem, feel free!" I'm glad, because this beautiful grass, along with a collection of mostly native perennials has created a lovely meadow where their path once traveled.

Purple Love Grass is native to much of the Eastern U.S.--from the Dakotas and points east, south to Arizona, Texas, and Florida. It's also native in parts of Mexico, according to the Missouri Botanical Garden. It prefers sandy or well-drained soil, with dry to medium precipitation. It grows best in sunny locations. It tolerates drought and Black Walnut trees (which we have in abundance at the cottage).

The foliage reaches a height of about 10 inches. Then, in late summer pinkish/purple flowers appear, and form a cloud of beauty up to a height of about two feet.

Another attribute--Purple Love Grass is photogenic:

Artful grass displays at London's Kew Gardens

I'm not a grass person. But during our recent trip to London's Kew Gardens, I decided to move beyond my comfort zone, open my mind a little, and spend some time in Kew's Grass Garden.

I may just be a convert.

Was it because of the perfect weather (18C/64F, partly cloudy, calm)? The fact that I was on vacation? The season? Or something else?

Perhaps it was because of the incredibly artful way that Kew has arranged its grass collection: 550 species from around the world. And the time of day: midafternoon, which meant the sun was shining on, around, and through the grasses in spectacular ways. How could I resist?

I took 225 photos at Kew--63 of them at the Grass Garden, alone. It was lovely. Here are a few highlights:

Shenandoah Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum), native to most of North America.

Purple Moor Grass (Molinia caerulea), native to Europe, Western Asia, and North Africa. This particular cultivar is 'Poul Petersen.' It forms purple flower spikes in the spring and summer that resemble Lavender from a distance.

Hare's Tail (Lagurus ovatus), a Mediterranean grass.

Medusahead (Taeniatherum caput-medusae), native to Southern Europe and North Africa.

Pampas Grass (Cortaderia selloana), native to Southern South America.

Northern Sea Oats (Chasmanthium latifolium), native to much of the Eastern and Central U.S. and Northern Mexico. I've been meaning to add this grass to my garden because I find it attractive, and because it's one of the few grasses native to my area that thrives in partial shade.

Switch Grass (Panicum virgatum), native throughout most of Canada, the U.S., and Mexico. This cultivar is 'Squaw,' which blooms with a cloud of pinkish flower heads.

Himalayan Fairy Grass (Miscanthus nepalensis), native to parts of Asia, Australia, and New Zealand.

Blue Grama Grass (Bouteloua gracilis), native to much of the U.S., but common in the Midwest and West.

Japanese Blood Grass (Imperata cylindrica), native to parts of Asia, Micronesia, Melanesia, Australia, and parts of Africa. This cultivar is 'Rubra.'

Korean Feather Reed Grass (Calamagrostis brachytricha).

I could go on and on. But the true beauty of the grasses at Kew extends beyond their individual merits to the way the botanical garden has them combined in artful waves of color, texture, height, and form.

(Just four days after our visit, London experienced a major windstorm. Fortunately, Kew reported it lost only 12 of its 14,000 trees, and the damage otherwise was minimal. I wonder how the Grass Garden fared.)