On a sunny May Saturday the queue at the garden entrance stretched fifty yards down the street.  Once inside the gates the crowds quickly disperse. The Royal Botanic Gardens can absorb a lot of people without losing their tranquility.  There are many special features and attractions within the 300 acre site, with 30,000 different plant species in the display gardens and glasshouses, but the spaces in between are given over to vast lawns punctuated by magnificent specimen trees, peaceful wildflower meadows and woodland areas.  Kew Gardens is an important centre of botanical research and education; it’s also a great place for a picnic.

 

Contrasting colours of Iris sibirica by the lake with golden Tradescantia foliage
The Arboretum stretches across two thirds of the gardens and includes 14,000 trees of 2,000 different species and varieties
The perennial Broad Walk borders contain many familiar garden varieties planted in bold interlocking blocks…
and less familiar variations on well known themes
The human figures give some sense of scale to this picture – a magnificent specimen of Quercus castaneifolia or chestnut leaved oak.
Different species and varieties of Allium are a features of the Broad Walk Borders – here Allium cristophii is seen against the fresh foliage of a day lily

 

Here are a few snapshots from the Arboretum and the Great Broad Walk Borders.

Click on any image to view the gallery and here to visit the Kew Gardens website.