Royal Botanic Gardens, KEW

Image from The Royal Mail.

"In this wonderful garden of Kew . . . what trees! what lawns! what undulations of the ground."

(Camille Pissarro, French artist, 1892)

As I near the end of my travels in the United Kingdom, I am venturing out enjoying new places to visit. Although not a science student--my specialty is literature--I enjoy walking in forests and gardens, and was attracted to Kew Gardens by those possibilities and by its iconic architecture and its colourful history. Therefore, I have made little effort in explaining the biological forces at play in these gardens, but must say I had a great day here.

From its royal beginnings in 1759 to its 250th Anniversary, Kew Gardens has had a complex and vital history. It has experienced times of major growth and low points because of wars and financial difficulties. Designs and plans popular in one period have been overlaid by later landscaping architects, matching the tastes of the day. By the early 20th century, the focus began to shift to conservation; hence the slogan, PLANTS PEOPLE POSSIBILITIES. Capping it all was the 2003 designation by UNESCO of Kew Gardens as a World Heritage Site.

I opted to take the 40-minute Kew Explorer Tour, which offers hop-on-hop-off service, and provides a good overview of the complete 132 hectare site. It would take days to explore every corner, so visitors have to make choices what to see and do.

Across the River Thames is Syon House, the London residence of the Duke of Northumberland. We drove along the Thames here, and I didn't have enough time to take the Riverside Walk. The well-known Syon Vista is a long view from the Palm House glasshouse across the entire gardens to Syon House.

During 2010, Kew features ten three-metre-high seed sculptures made from willow by artist Tom Hare. Each has a mild steel frame unto which the willow is woven. Earlier, visitors could watch the seed pods being woven, but all were completed by September. Other examples follow.

These seed-pod sculptures are symbolically very important as they represent Kew in many ways. As far back as the 16th and 17th centuries, Richmond was a perfect location for the king and his courtiers to sail to and from London, about ten kilometres away. The king had a palace at Richmond, and the very presence of the court drew nobles and influential courtiers to the area, and the nearby village of Kew grew rapidly.

Landscaped gardens had existed at Richmond from early on, developed by landscape architects such as Charles Bridgeman, William Kent, and "Capability" Brown. By 1752 the development of the gardens at Kew into a serious botanic garden was underway, under the influence of Princess Augusta--mother of George III--and the Earl of Bute, who had a vision of a garden which would "contain all the plants known on earth." Design was given over to William Chambers, who brought about huge changes in forty years, creating formal yet naturalistic designs.

The Physic or Exotic Garden of 1759 was the direct result of the plans of Princess Augusta and Lord Bute, employing William Aiton as the gardener, and is accepted as the official date of the foundation of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. In 1772, when George III inherited Kew Palace on the death of his mother, Richmond Garden, Kew Garden, and much of the land alongside the River Thames, came into single ownership.

Sir Joseph Banks (1743-1820) became a major influence at Kew and moved it into the scientific and economical botanical purposes realm. That scientific role, later combined with research and exploration, has made Kew today into a leader in the botanic world. But it almost didn't happen. When Banks and the mad King George died in 1820, it almost resulted in the end of Kew. But inspired leadership from Sir William Hooker and later his son, Sir Joseph Hooker--combined with the brilliance of designers William Nesfield and Decimus Burton, saved the day. In 1836, the Nash Conservatory was moved from Buckingham Palace and in 1840, Kew was officially designated the National Botanic Garden, leading to a renaissance from 1841-1885, when key developments occurred.

In 1773 Sir Banks had 800 trees and shrubs planted (of which 8 or 9 survive from that period) but in 1849 a National Arboretum was created, with 2000 species planted. Kew also has heritage trees, including the unlucky Corsican pine--hit by a light aircraft in the early 20th century and at least twice by lightning. There is a tulip tree from the 1770s, a 30-metre chestnut-leaved oak from 1846, not to mention a sweet chestnut from the early 18th century, the Luscome Oak from 1773, and the so-called "Old Lions": A maidenhair (Ginko biloba) from 1762 and the Japanese pagoda tree, below.

From VIRGINIA WOOLF:

"From the oval-shaped flower bed there rose perhaps a hundred stalks spreading into heart-shaped or tongue-shaped leaves half-way up and unfurling at the tip red or blue or yellow petals marked with spots of colour raised upon the surface; and from the red, blue or yellow gloom of the throat emerged a straight bar, rough with gold dust and slightly clubbed at the end. The petals were voluminous enough to be stirred by the summer breeze, and when they moved, the red, blue and yellow lights passed one over the other, staining an inch of the brown earth beneath with a spot of the most intricate colour.

The light fell either upon the smooth, grey back of a pebble, or, the shell of a snail with its brown, circular veins, or falling into a raindrop, it expanded with such intensity of red, blue and yellow the thin walls of water that one expected them to burst and disappear. Instead, the drop was left in a second silver grey once more, and the light now settled upon the flesh of a leaf, revealing the branching thread of fibre beneath the surface, and again it moved on and spread its illumination in the vast green spaces beneath the dome of the heart-shaped and tongue-shaped leaves. Then the breeze stirred rather more briskly overhead and the colour was flashed into the air above, into the eyes of the men and women who walk in Kew Gardens in July." [From Kew Gardens, 1919.]

The Italianate Campanile, at the Victoria Gate, is the first structure one notices entering the Gardens. It was the water tower and smoke flue for the 12 boilers under the nearby first major glasshouse 150 metres away, connected by a tunnel carrying water and smoke.

From 1844-1848 the iconic Palm House was built. The concept by Decimus Burton was far removed from that of a typical orangery form--a building WITH glass. The new Palm House would be a building OF glass. Richard Turner, Ireland's greatest glasshouse designer, was responsible for the engineering and construction, borrowing from the skills and experiences of Irish shipbuilding. (After falling into disrepair following the challenges of World War II, it was dismantled and restored in 1984-1989.).

"The design is essentially an upturned hull. The unprecedented use of light but strong wrought iron 'ship's beams' made the great pillarless span, a then unheard of, 15.2 metres, possible." (Kew Website)

Today, the Palm House represents one habitat--tropical rainforest. Inside is the oldest potted plant in Britain: a cyad was brought to Kew in 1775. Outside are the Queen's Beasts.

Views inside the Palm House. I have concluded that glasshouses are not my favourite places, what with humidity and dampness. I much prefer the structures themselves--from outside.

An amusing sculpture entitled A Maxima ad Minima (From the Greatest to the Least), created and donated by Sir Eduardo Paolozzi, 1998.

The Princess of Wales Conservatory, which opened in 1987. It is named for Princess Augusta and is a state-of-the-art computer-controlled glasshouse, and incorporates ten different environments, from dry desert to moist rainforest. Could she have ever dreamt that her Physic Garden of 1752 would lead to this amazing mixed habitat, that Lord Bute's vision might someday come close to reality?

The special attraction this summer is an exhibit called Butterflies, Bugs & Beasties.

Special attractions were the metal "creatures."

I took this photo in the pond holding the giant Asian waterlilies, the flowers of which first open underwater. The flower's male and female parts can reach each other to self-pollinate. (This may not be Euryale ferox: the pads don't seem right.)

Inside the Princess of Wales Conservatory, opened by Lady Diana in 1987. The Conservatory has now been dedicated to her.

I can't identify any of these. Believe me, butterflies are not easy to photograph: they are always moving like family pets and children, frustrating the photographer!

The Davies Alpine House opened in 2006, is an award-winning design that keeps alpine plants dry in winter and cool in summer. It uses a basement heat sink to circulate cooled air and has a sail-type shading system (next) that can visually be compared to four huge Japanese fans. Automated ropes, pulleys and winches draw up the fans when shade is needed. Each side is independently shaded when required.

Part of the Rock Garden, first established in 1882, which features six global regions, a central bog and cascade.

A sculpture entitled, "A Sower," near a Chilean specimen tree called "Monkey Puzzle," so named because climbing the tree with its sharp branches tightly clothed with spiny leaves, would puzzle even a monkey.

The Orangery was opened in 1761 and was designed by Sir William Chambers. It is the largest classical style building at Kew and was designed to hold orange trees. But the light levels inside were too low to grow plants, although higher windows were installed. It is now a restaurant, where I enjoyed mid-day tea, consisting of Gazpacho, chicken with chick peas, courgette and cherry tomatoes, and, of course, a Guinness. I had to fight off two pigeons--inside the building--who demanded my bread. I was also amused by an Asian bride and groom, she in a full wedding dress, and their friends, having lunch.

Two statues in the Orangery Restuarant, entitled "Diana" and "Flora."

The Dutch House was built by a London merchant, Samuel Fortrey, in 1631. By the early 18th century it had been let to the royal family, who purchased it by the 1750s; it was lived in by George III and Queen Charlotte and some of their children. It is far less sumptuous than most royal palaces, and is really quite small inside. It was across from Kew Farm, later re-built as the White House, where King George III was raised. (The White House was torn down in 1802 and the Dutch House became Kew Palace.)

Recently, Kew Palace has been restored to its 1802 glory and exterior colour.

This bust of George III was made by Madame Tussaud herself. George and Charlotte lived here during the crisis caused by the king's presumed insanity. (In fact, it is now believed he suffered from a metabolic disorder known as porphyria.)

There are fascinating artefacts in the Palace. But this is, in fact, a very simple home . . .

. . . with lovely clocks . . .

. . . and amusing dinner plates. (The table was set with these, each with a different text.)

The finest rooms following the restoration. There are some rooms that have been left showing the interior costruction of walls and ceilings.

A pair of particularly beautiful lamps.

Behind Kew Palace is the 17th century-style garden, conceived in 1959 by Sir George Taylor, then Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens and opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1969. The key element is the parterre enclosed in box hedges and planted with lavender, purple sage, variegated iris, lady's mantle and Russian sage.

From the Nosegay Garden. Nosegays were carried by women to disguise unpleasant odours in the streets and to ward off the plague. (I believe this is the wrought iron pillar from Hampton Court Palace.)

Every plant in the garden was grown in Britain during and before the 17th century. In the Nosegay Garden, sunken and off to the side, are plants selected for their reputed medicinal qualities. Old quotations adorn the labels, revealing for instance, that common marigold comforts hearts and spirits, and borage relieves sorrow and increases "the joye of the minde."

This plant in the Nosegay Garden was labelled, but I forgot to read the label, so I do not know what it is called. The clump of dangling blooms hang about a foot above the ground.

Standing in the pond is a copy of Verocchio's Boy with a Dolphin, the original of which is in Florence, Italy.

It was in Kew Palace that Queen Charlotte died in 1818. (King George lingered on in dementia in his London palace for two more years.) The Palace then stood empty until 1898, when Queen Victoria, the offspring of one of the Royal Weddings at Kew, gave it to the nation.

A statue of Pan.

A small avenue.

Alongside the Queen's Garden: the Gazebo, an Urn, and a decorated sundial showing the signs of the Zodiac. Curiously, one of the statues in the ring around the back hedge, is of a life-sized human but satanic figure with horns.

One of the most famous and loved features at Kew Gardens is the Pagoda, one of twenty-five ornamental buildings designed by Sir William Chambers for Kew when it was a royal estate. Chambers, born to Scottish parents in Sweden, became Princess Augusta's official architect in 1757. Only four of his original buildings survive. (He was knighted in 1771 by King Gustav III of Sweden for a series of drawings of Kew Gardens, and George III allowed him to use the title in England.

The Pagoda was completed in 1762 as a surprise for Princess Augusta, one of several Chinese buildings made for Kew by Chambers. The ten-storey octagonal structure was constructed by Solomon Brown and is 50 metres high. "It tapers, with successive floors from the first to the topmost being 30 cm less in both diameter and height than the preceding one," according to the guidebook.

"The original building was intended to be very colourful: Chambers, who had lived in China, wanted the roofs to be made of green and white varnished metal plates, the banisters to be a mix of blue, red and green and 80 gilded dragons to decorate the roof corners with a gold filial to top it all off. However, iron plates were replaced with slate and sadly, the dragons all vanished in 1784 during maintenance. The Pagoda has undergone no fewer than 24 colour scheme changes since then."

Contemporaries of Chambers wondered if such a tall building could remain standing, but he reassured them it had been "built of very hard bricks." Its sturdy construction was proven when it survived a close call from a stick of German bombs exploding close by during World War II.

The Temperate House started in 1860 is located in the Pleasure Gardens, in the centre of the Arboretum. Work stopped for financial reasons and it was not completed until 1897, and opened in May 1899. At 4,880 square metres, it is twice the size of the Palm House.

The Temperate House, looking at the South Africa wing. At the opposite end is the Asia wing.

The Temperate House holds an extensive collection of temperate American plants. The central section holds the Australia collection. Among the plants on display are endangered island species being propagated for reintroduction into their native lands.

Also designed by Decimus Burton, the Temperate House is 180 metres long and 42 metres wide. The plants needed good ventilation, so the house was designed in straight lines. The glazing bars were of wood, not iron, for easy repair and to aid heating, with a decorated cornice, a very Victorian flourish, at the eaves.

The Temperate House was at one time, the largest plant house in the world. It is still the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse.

The Chilean Wine Palm is believed to be the tallest greenhouse plant in the world. It was started from seed in 1846. The tall tree is normally felled with its top uphill so that its sap--of which there can be 90 gallons--can be drained for making wine or palm syrup. According to the guidebook,"there is a replacement nearby, ready for the time when this huge wine palm no longer fits into the 16 metre-high roof-space." It won't be much longer!

Inside the Temperate Glasshouse.

The back of the Temperate House. I am standing in front of the Evolution House, which traces eons of plant development.

The Xstrata Treetop Walkway is 18 metres high and offers a unique tree-canopy view of Kew. Beneath it is the Rhizotron, an undergound display area illustrating the relationship between tree roots and soil. (For mathematical readers, the Xstrata's design is ingeniously based on the Fibonacci ratio.) I did not even consider going up, as the lift is not working.

King William's Temple, one of the numerous ornamental follies in Kew Gardens. It was designed by Sir Jeffry Wyatville in 1837. It commemorates British military victories.

The elegant Sackler Crossing is a bronze-railed bridge crossing the Lake in the Arboretum. It is the design of architect John Pawson, and opened in 2006.

The guidebook says that "its design fosters clear visual links between the bridge and the natural contours of the gently rounded shoreline, the smooth expanse of the Lake and the powerful verticals of the trees."

"Set close to the Lake's surface, the Crossing gives an illusion of walking on water and enables you to feel you are part of nature's waterside scene."

"Depending on your viewpoint, the spaces between the bronze fins appear and disappear, giving the structure an intriguing ambiguity between solid and transparent, like water itself."

Every British lake has its requisite swan . . .

. . . and requisite Shep, the erstwhile traveller.

Although the full effect of the beds of roses in the Rose Garden is not seen now as they are past their prime in September, I couldn't resist a few shots of beautiful specimens.

I had come to Kew Gardens via a 46-minute long Tube ride (and 70-minute train ride) and used the Victoria Gate for entrance, from the village of Kew.

The original Kew Railway Station is now an eatery. The Underground station is next to it. I have barely scratched the surface of Kew Gardens in 5 hours. I haven't visited the Kew art galleries, the International Garden Photography of the Year annual exhibit, the Bonsai House, the Badger Sett, the Japanese Mink and Bamboo Garden, Queen Charlotte's Cottage or the Duke's Garden. Plus I skipped PLANTastic, the new children's area that isn't even in the brochures or on the maps yet! Perhaps, in the month I have left in the UK, I might get back here, but if not, I am glad I have come, and I commend the Kew Gardens to everyone.