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kew in january

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gps below

PJ's pictures

The Overground had problems so we had to get off the train at Gunnersbury and transfer to another train for one stop.   On the way home trains were cancelled at West Hampstead because of an obstruction on the line.   Fortunately we only had to wait for 5 minutes

 

PJ spotted this snap

What a motor...

Crippled, pollarded trees

A lovely sunny day just right for a garden trip

Muscari at Kew

Aconites

Helleborus corsicus

Remaining Christmas decorations

Remembrance

 Kew’s poignant Remembrance and Hope seat commemorating the First World War

Hope

The Battle of Verdun was one of the longest and deadliest battles of the First World War, lasting from February to December 1916, between French and German soldiers.

An acorn dispersed from a sessile oak tree (Quercus petraea) was collected from the war-torn land and planted here at Kew in 1919.

In its new tranquil setting in our Gardens, the acorn flourished and grew into the stunning 'Verdun oak' tree, a living memorial to those who lost their lives at the battle.   Standing proud for almost a century near the Palm House Pond, things suddenly took a turn for the worst on 28 October 2013.   The severe St Jude’s Day storm caused devastation, damaging the oak so much, the tree, heartbreakingly, had to be felled.

But Kew’s Head of Arboretum, Tony Kirkham, didn't want the wonderful oak’s story to end there.  So he conceived the fitting idea of creating a commemorative outdoor seat made from the tree’s timber to mark the centenary of the end of the First World War.

The new bench is situated near the Palm House Pond on the corner of the panel lawn, just opposite the Temple of Arethusa, where Kew's war memorial plaque can be found.   As its name suggests, the towering commemorative seat comes in two parts – Remembrance and Hope. The Remembrance part has an enveloping, contemplative form, and looks towards the Temple of Arethusa.   Its Corten frame has a looped design motif, partially in scorched oak, reminiscent of the First World War battle zones’ barbed wire.

The other side of the seat faces the Palm House, and, with its open, convex form, is outward looking and hopeful.   It features cut organic branch forms from the fallen Verdun oak, to represent the irrepressible regenerative power of nature.

Conservatory

Crassula portulacea

Euphorbia

Esposioa lanata

Astrophytum ornatum

Mammularia geminispina

Parodia magnifica

Espostoa superba new growth from old

Pedilanthes tithymaloides subsp. tithymaloides from Honduras

Hechtia argentea

Hechtia argentea was exhibited in Brussels in 1864

Ferocactus pilosus

We went into the tropical part of the conservatory and the lenses misted up...

Aechmea

Matt's Pictures

Anthurium

Cestrum fasciculatum

Bromeliad

Banana

Aroid

Cymbidium variety

Venus fly trap

Sundew

Slipper orchid

Seven Slate Towers by Daniel Harvey 1995

Garrya eliptica

The Beehive

Art...

Temperate House

Luculia gratissima

Rhododendron macgregoriae

Camellia

Mallow family

Cestrum fasciculatum

Brugsmansia sanguinea

Narcissus 'paperwhite'

Leucadendron 'Safari Sunset'

Clivia miniata

Sparmannia africana - African hemp

Dombeya burgessiae from both sides

Christmas decorations

From the Sackler Crossing

We had a coffee before setting off for home.