ABOUT KEW GARDENS, LONDON ( PART -- I )

Kew Gardens

Elizabeth Gate

       One of the most beautiful sites that one should not miss to see is the most famous Kew Gardens situated on the banks of Thames in Richmond. The nearest station to Kew Gardens is Kew Bridge station and from there you can walk for ten minutes to reach Kew Gardens located in Rchmond near the banks of Thames. From Waterloo railway station there are trains which will take you to Kew Bridge in 35 minutes.This most spacious garden spreading over an area of three hundred acres has the largest number of more than 30,000 species of plant varieties and also provides vast amount of information to plant lovers and scientists in Botanical research. It has nearly seven million preserved plant specimens and is one of  the largest herbariums  in the world. It has the rare privilege of having a very large library possessing 7,50,000 volumes and 1,75,000 prints and drawings of plants. Even common people feel immense pleasure on visiting this paradise of plants showing the wonders of nature found in various countries and climates, all at one place. Due commendation and applause should be given to the Kew, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. This garden and its associated departments are managed by nearly eight hundred staff members. The Kew Society has partnership with eighty countries in the world to work in the fields of Botanical Research and Education. It manages two gardens-- one at Kew in Richmond upon Thames and another at Wakehurst Place in Sussex, which is home to Millineum Seed Bank . The Kew Garden founded in 1759 was declared as the UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2003.

      In 1299 King Edward I built a manor house in the neighboring Richmond called "Sheen." In 1501 King Henry V built the Sheen Palace under the name "Richmond Palace." King Henry VII made this palace as his permanent residence. In the beginning of the 16th century royal courtiers built large houses in the region of Kew. Later in 1759 Lord Capel of Tewkesbury laid out a large garden in the spacious area of 300 acres. This exotic garden was enlarged by Augusta, Dowager Princess, widow of Frederick, Prince of Wales. In 1761 William Chambers built several garden structures including the Japanese Pagoda. In 1772 the royal estates of Richmond and Kew merged. King George III enriched the gardens with the help of William Aiton and Sir Joseph Banks. The old Kew Park was demolished in 1802. The Dutch house adjoining the park was purchased by George III as a nursery for royal children in 1781. This plain brick house is now called Kew Palace as George used to spend his time with his family here to take rest and whenever he was suffering from fits of insanity. In 1840 the Kew Gardens was adopted as a national botanical garden by the Royal Horticultural Society and its President, William Cavendish,  R.H.S. William Hooker, Director of Kew Gardens, extended the area of the garden up to 75 acres and the arboretum to 300 acres.

    There are many special attractions which were added to make this garden a unique one. Some of  them are mentioned here just to give you an idea about this worth seeing place.

  "The Palm House " is one of the surviving Victorian glass and iron structures - built between 1844 and 1848. This was designed by Decimus Burton and built by the engineer, Richard Turner. This glass house is 363 feet long, 100 feet wide and 66 feet in height. The glass panes were tinted green with copper oxide to reduce the heating effect. The 19 metre nave is surrounded by a 9 metre high walkway to get a closer look upon the palm tree tops. We can see the tall green palms with broad foliage, brought from Asia, Africa, Australia such as the African oil palm, cocoa, coconut trees, rubber trees, papaya and Mexican yam.

Palm trees

Palm House

    The Alpine House :This pyramid-shaped glass house with glass sides and glass roof was opened in 2006 where you can see more than 200 kinds of Alpine plants which grow 2000 meters above sea level. This house is 50 meters long and 33 feet high protected with a 12 mm thick glass wall. It is located at the north end of the rock garden.The maximum temperature is to be not more than 20 degrees centigrade as they grow on snow-covered hills of Alpine region. Here you can enjoy the beautiful scene of rare flowering plants like the blue Chilean crocus, tulips, evergreen ferns, and Santiago blooms.

Alpine House

Fern plants

  

Tulips

Chilean Crocus

   

Orange and Yellow Flower

A clear-cut floral beauty

  

               

   The Temperate House ;  This 19 meter-high glass house with a spacious area of 4,880 sq.meters is one of the world's largest surviving Victorian glass structures which was commissioned in 1859. This was built by the architect Decimus Burton and iron founder, Charles Turner. At Present it is closed as restoration works are going on with a huge investment of nearly 34 million pounds for a period of five years.

Temperate House

Water Lily House

   






  

The Water-lily House : Here you can see a large pond with varieties of  water-lilies of various colors floating on water amidst broad-spread round leaves. Giant water-lilies with two-meter long leaves catches our attention. The floating blooms in white, red, blue and purple colors in cool shade is quite refreshing to onlookers.The pond is surrounded by green shrubs and plants which can survive in heated atmosphere.This house was constructed in 1852. This house remains closed in winter months.

 

Princess of Wales Conservatory

Lush Greenery at Conservatory

          

Nepenthes (Carnivorous Plant )

                                     

Venus Flytrap (Carnivorous Plant)

   

Pink Orchids

White Orchids

                                                     

Princess of Wales Conservatory : This glass house was designed by Gordon Wilson and opened by Diana, Princess of Wales in 1987 in memory of the queen Augusta, mother of George III . In this 4,499 sq.meters area, one can see plants growing in dry tropical and wet tropical regions. One will also find the colorful orchids, desert plants and carnivorous plants. This house is a special attraction for many plant-lovers. There are nearly 1500 varieties of orchids in pink, violet, red, yellow and other shades with spots and other designs. Here one can see the gigantic mangroves with huge dangling roots which survive in marshy places along with Indian trees like banana and pineapple. The sight of carnivorous plants in odd shapes ( which survive by feeding on insects) , like pitcher-shaped Nepenthes with waxy interior walls or sun dew plant with sticky mucus on which the insects will get trapped, is quite surprising and shows the miracles of nature's creation. The desert plants with twisted grotesque shapes covered with thorns and thick leaves show how plants adapt themselves to the surroundings in order to survive.

Purple Water Lily

Titan Arum (Gigantic Flower )

                     
                     
   















Besides these glasshouses displaying specimens of the various plant varieties, some more solid constructions are added to enhance the charm of these royal gardens such as the the Japanese Pagoda, Rhizothron, the Tree Top Way, the Rock Garden, and the Gateways along with the Kew palace and Charlotte cottage. One day is not enough to see all these wonderful constructions located in the colorful lap of natural surroundings.

              31st July, 2015                                                           Somaseshu Gutala