{"id":11584,"date":"2011-06-30T13:00:32","date_gmt":"2011-06-30T17:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nybg.org\/plant-talk\/?p=11584"},"modified":"2011-12-22T14:45:48","modified_gmt":"2011-12-22T19:45:48","slug":"a-rainy-day-walk-around-kew","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2011\/06\/photography\/a-rainy-day-walk-around-kew\/","title":{"rendered":"A Rainy Day Walk Around Kew"},"content":{"rendered":"\n\n\n
Ann Rafalko is Director of Online Content.<\/em><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Hello everybody, Ann here. I’m back from my summer vacation, jet-lagged but so happy to be home for this beautiful New York City weather! My intention of blogging from the road<\/a> was pure, but I was thwarted by technology. Who would have ever expected it would be so hard to find reliable wifi (or “weefee” as they say in France) in London and Paris? Regardless, I had a great, garden-inspired trip. Here are some pictures I snapped on a rainy day visit to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"IGPOTY<\/a>
IGPOTY Exhibition at Kew<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

If you win one of the categories or special commendations in the IGPOTY contest<\/a>, your photos will be on display at this beautiful outdoor exhibition at Kew Gardens. The photos are printed onto a special kind of vinyl and hang outside year-round. The exhibition is right near the main gate, and is therefore one of the first stops for Kew’s many visitors. The quality of the winning IGPOTY<\/a> photographs is extraordinary<\/em>, so hone your chops by joining in on one of our monthly photo contests<\/a>. I can’t wait to see at least one photo from NYBG hanging here next year!<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Temperate House at Kew Gardens<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There are three main glasshouses at Kew, and many smaller, secondary houses as well. They are very old and very lovely.<\/p>\n

\"Staircase<\/a>
Staircase to the Temperate House Walkway<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Both the Temperate House and the Palm House have catwalks around the upper levels that you access by climbing these mysterious-looking, vine-laden staircases.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The View from the Temperate House Catwalk<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

These catwalks give you an unusual perspective on trees that is nearly impossible to gain in nature.<\/p>\n

\"Don't<\/a>
Don't Forget to Bring a Brolly<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As might be expected, rain is a common occurrence, so don’t forget to bring an umbrella. Of course, if you forget yours, though (like I did), the shop<\/a> sells very nice ones<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Sheltering<\/a>
Sheltering from the Rain<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Should you choose not to use an umbrella, however, there are plenty of trees to shelter under while waiting for the showers to pass. This one is near the Sackler Crossing, a really cool walkway\/bridge over Kew’s big lake.<\/p>\n

\"King<\/a>
King Willam<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

One of my favorite things at Kew was this garden known at King William’s Temple<\/a>. It is planted with flowers, trees, shrubs, and herbs from the Mediterranean, and smells divine<\/em>, especially in the rain. It is full of lavendar, rosemary, olive trees, cypresses, and so many other plants. It reminded me quite a lot of our current exhibition, Spanish Paradise: Gardens of the Alhambra<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

\"A<\/a>
A Typical English Garden<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Just before I met up with two of my colleagues at Kew, I dashed through the Plant Families Beds and the Student Vegetable Plots just as the sun peeked out. This garden at the entrance to this area, at least to my mind, exemplifies everything that is beautiful about the English garden. It is a profusion of colors, heights, and textures, and is a joy to behold.<\/p>\n

\"Badgers!\"<\/a>
Badgers!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We’ve got beavers<\/a>, Kew’s got badgers! I think I know which one I would prefer to run into on a dusky forest trail ….<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The Palm House<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And finally, I couldn’t possibly leave you without a shot of the structure that probably helped inspire the Garden’s founder, Nathaniel Lord Britton, to push the great men of New York City to found The New York Botanical Garden<\/a>. The Palm House is an absolutely breathtaking work of engineering, and a great thing of beauty.<\/p>\n

If you love The New York Botanical Garden<\/a>, and you find yourself with a few days in London, you should absolutely go visit Kew Gardens<\/a>. There are, inevitably, a lot of similarities between Kew and NYBG, but England’s climate, and Kew’s history, make the 30 minute trip out to Kew entirely worthwhile. I hope you have enjoyed my very brief tour of Kew, and that you’ll stay tuned next week for my adventures at Claude Monet’s garden in Giverny.<\/p>\n

Special thanks to Mary from IGPOTY<\/a> for showing me around Kew, and to Claire and Nicola at Kew for the cup of tea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew served as the inspiration for the founding of The New York Botanical Garden. Here’s a short photo essay from one NYBG staffer’s summer visit to Kew.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":122,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[146],"tags":[1561,1560,4675,1559,1349,38,1539,4648],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ph0lU-30Q","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/122"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11584"}],"version-history":[{"count":15,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11597,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11584\/revisions\/11597"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}