KEW. 2019 Orchid festival.

Anyone planning to visit.

 

When is it Mike?

 

9 February until 10 March 2019.

 

Not these days.
Its a moo poo to get to.

Be best if they moved it to somewhere sensible.

 

Managed to visit Kew today with Amanda my daughter and granddaughter Chloee. Boy was it cold and windy. Once inside the Princess of Wales glasshouse we were out of the wind. Having been to the orchid festivals before, I was disappointed as the display IMO wasn't a touch on previous displays. Mind you, the visitors including children were much better. Visitors seemed to have more respect for others.
Chloee spotted one of the lizards, ? Commodo Dragon, standing very still above a waterfall. Pointing this out to a youg girl, presumeably a foreign visitor, soon everybody was taking photos. I'm sure the little fellow felt quite proud.

I was amazed at a new glasshouse, the Hive. It's about 30ft high at the summit and somewhat laughable. It houses a selection of alpines. Perhaps the powers to be are going to use....Miracle Grow.

YES! it's a pig of a place to get to and parking is a real PIA. Some locals will actually rent out their drive for parking. For a day out it can be expensive. Apart from travel cost, then some parking charges and entrance fee (£17), then unless you take some sandwiches and a flask, the catering franchises really have a field day. I believe that you can get a London Pass that gives you free entry to many London places.

I use Kew, The Natural History and British Museums a lot for research, but sadly that thing called age is creeping up fast. Often by the time I get to my destination, I am well and truly knackered. Still if any forum friends ever decide to visit the smoke. Perhaps we could meet up.

 

I hope you don't mind me posting this here, it's slightly off topic. I have just spotted this interesting article on the BBC webpage about how a group of women were employed at Kew in 1896 on equal pay, long before women gained the vote. They had to work in their bloomers, to disguise the fact they were ladies!
Here it is...

The trail-blazing gardening women of Kew