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Published: September 24th 2017
Backyard Gardens
... the further out from the centre of the city the bigger the house and therefore the bigger the garden Thirty minutes west out of the city one alights at a small station called Kew Gardens. Exiting the station small local shops on both sides of the road offer shoe repair, fresh meat, used books, drugs, creams, coffee, wedge, real estate are passed as the road leads to the the Famous landmark. And what pretty houses there are; well kept, manicured, gravel roaded, hedge trimmed, upscale cars polished. And this all under the unrelenting emission of jet fuel from the planes in the Heathrow flightpath. Not one or two or even three or four but an all day busy corridor of jets leaving for points unknown.
At Victoria Gate the lady who volunteers by selling tickets comes from North Bay, Canada.
The tour of the Garden began at 11.00. Mary the tour guide had worked at Kew for twenty-five years. Now she volunteers and is an enviable source of trivia, info and facts.
"The Royal Family used Kew Palace, purchased from a wealthy merchant, as their summer residence. Prince Frederick and Princess Augusta, parents of the future George III, started a
garden around
Kew Palace. Gifted gardeners and scientists experimented with plants and garden landscaping."wiki.
Thgen there
20 years of decline and not until 1841 did the Gardens experience a renaisance. The Temparate House was built...the biggest glass house in the world.
In 2913 Temperate House, the world's largest Victorian greenhouse closed for a 34.4m five year restoratiom
. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/gardening/gardenstovisit/10200432/Kew-Gardenss-Temperate-House-closes-for-restoration.
This house was not accessible during my visit. The whole thing is being refurbished.The english were travelling all over the world and from those far flung places seeds, plants and products were brought back to England. Kew gardens takes pride in their contribution to botanical research.
The Tour Guides info:
- rattan was used as bone replacement
- bird of paradise flower named after Charlotte
- coconut water was used as back up for IV drip
- the bark of the coconut was used as bandaging with garlic as an antibiotic
- the vanilla plant is apparently suffering from disease... googled thid an came across strange info ... you do your own googling
- the vanilla flower can be pollinated only by a mexican bee
- three percent of cacao flowers are pollinated by midgens
-
Theobroma cacao, is the best known species of the genus,and is
used for making chocolate, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theobroma
- king George lll's chocolatier was with himevery morning.
- pandanus, palm civet ... mentioned...googling necessary
- Ginko trees have effects on alzheimer's
- daisies and the ginko tree have been since dinosaur times
- Stychnos ... apoison used in murder from Agatha Cristie to Crippen
- Beatrix Potter often came to the Kew... she studies Fungi
- lettuce ...http://www.botanical-online.com/medicinalslactucasativasangles.htm ... all surprising possibilities
- victoria amazinica ....
Victoria is a genus of water-lilies, in the plant family
Nymphaeaceae, with very large green leaves that lie flat on the water's surface.
Victoria amazonica has a leaf that is up to 3 metres (9.8 ft) in diameter, on a stalk up to 8 metres (26 ft) in length. The genus name was given in honour of
Queen Victoria of the
United Kingdom. ... WIKI The Waterlily House was visited with the tour guide.
- the tulip tree of america was used to make canoes
Kew Palace was a refuge for George lll. He and his Queen Charlotte lived here especially during George's difficult times. Charlotte had 15 children, was the gransmother of Victoria and could not stand her son Frederick
Aptly Named
.. and there was a young server with a polish accent ... polish being the second most common language in the UK. She gave me info about Primax... a discount shopping who did not become King because he died after being hit in the head with a cricket ball.
Kew palace has three floors. The third one shows how it looked on the insde and under all the taut burlap, base wallpaper and splendid top layer of either silk, brocade or exclusively designed super wallpaper.
The Royal Kitchen was removed from the Palace proper due to the danger of open fires. One of the ovens had seventeen rotisserie possibilities. Stoves under large drums were lit to create hot water.
...also visited The Hive which was a metal sculpture that was designed for the 2016 Milan Fair. Two beehive boxes are connected to The Hive. The energy of the movement of the bees is enough to light up The Beehive at night. Bees hum in the key of C.
The last spot to be visite din the 365 acre space was the Treetop Walk. There is a lift for the disabled. At the end of the day all the people at the bottomrode the lift to the top. And then a walk thru the trees. They all seemed the same kind of tree... looked like chestnut but was
not. The Gardens was closing. Time to get back to the Tube. Passed the cute coffee shop where I had had breakfast at like 09.30 ... a flat white and mayonaisse egg on a baguette. Also stopped at a pharmacy for hand cream. This will be a good evening for a curry takeout from the Hala shop. Did buy a ticket for the little electric train going all around to important spots in Kew. Left it too late. The good driver returned me the five pounds. Thank you Kew! Never did find the botanical part...maybe its in that huge greenhouse that is getting renovated ... that makes a bit of sense ... The Temperate House .... good article here ...https://hartley-botanic.co.uk/magazine/kew-gardens-world-famous-kew-glasshouses.
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Barb Empey
non-member comment
Dear Barbara, thank you for the updates and for the beautiful pictures. I'm glad you're enjoying your excursions despite the condition of your hotel room. Take care.