Day 4: After our usual large English breakfast, we boarded the
Underground for a day at Kew Gardens. There was a short walk through
the village of Kew before we got to the garden.
The first thing one sees on entering is the Palm House, a greenhouse with
tropical plants, very warm and humid. We especially enjoyed the aquarium
below ground level, where they had some beautiful fish, but the primary interest
was the variety of seaweeds and algae.
The lily pads in the Aquatic Garden were at least
24 inches in diameter.
Perhaps the most interesting structure here was the Princess of Wales Conservatory.
It had many areas and levels, organized by environmental types, including
a desert area with cacti of the type we have in Southern California.
We enjoyed the Kew Palace, built by George III in 1631, and called the Dutch
House for obvious reasons.
There were many specialized areas, such as one area
of many different types of lavender and another of vegetable gardens. We liked
this area with different types of grasses.
