Isn't it always the way? In spite of having become a bit of a sporadic blogger, the minute my broadband goes down, my head gets full to bursting with blog posts. Five whole days we've been offline. It felt like going cold turkey and my eyes are strained from peering at my phone which gave me 3G to feed my internet addiction! The lack of xBox hasn't been pretty either for a certain someone. Just saying'...
All up and raring to go again as of a couple of hours ago - woohoo!
So, Nancy and I went to Kew on Monday determined to have a proper look at the wonderful David Nash sculptures, but more of that in Part Two.
I've been a member at Kew for just over two years now and I am pretty certain that on every visit I've made I have discovered myself in a part of the gardens that I have never been in before. This time, we found ourselves off the main paths and in a shady woodland area that was over by the badger sett. The paths were soft underfoot from the natural leaf mould rather than the tarmac paths that we usually walk.
It was hard to believe that we were in the carefully planted Kew that we both love and know. The area had been left to grow naturally and there were lots of tree stumps that were the habitat for stag beetles. It would have made my day had we spotted one.
As we strolled and chatted, we came across these stunning wild lilies. Using the wild flower identifier app on my phone, we soon discovered what they are: Martagon Lilies.
They were much smaller than cultivated lilies, probably about the size of a golf ball, but they had the distinct lily fragrance and the tell-tale pollen.
Further along the path, we then saw this pretty yellow wildflower trailing through the bigger bushes. Out came the app again and voila! Big Root!
It had some impressive tendril spiralling going on but I failed to capture it clearly so you'll have to take my word for it or ask Nancy nicely to post her photos ; )
Another little gem within Kew is this walled garden below. It's not always open but I was hoping it would be this time as I knew the borders would be breathtaking. I was right and came home full of big ideas for my own pesky back border. A girl can dream...
Wow, those lillies are stunning aren't they and I loved seeing a glimpse of the wilder side of Kew. So glad that you've got your internet connection back - I'd not be very good company at all if mine went down!
ReplyDeleteoh what lovely things you found! the wildflower app does sound good but I might find it hard to give up my allegiance to my well battered copy of Keeble Martin.
ReplyDeleteYour photos are wonderful, the lilies are especially beautiful. One of the joys of visiting other gardens is dreaming a little about what we could incorporate into our own gardens. Thanks for sharing.
ReplyDeleteAnne xx
The horrors of internet cold turkey. Though I might have to 'break' our broadband this summer in order to ration those little monkeys of mine.
ReplyDelete