Autumn gold at Kew

Posted on 31 Oct, 2009 20 comments

The Gardens have been a blaze of yellow,red and orange this past week and its been very busy due to the warm weather and half term.Walking through the gardens first thing before the crowds arrive has been a joy, and I get to see the wildfowl wake up on the lake.The light is usually poor that time of the morning,not ideal for taking pictures but I’ve taken a few of my favourite trees.
The problem for me is I find myself standing amongst so many large and beautifully coloured specimens I don’t know where to start! Sadly wind and rain is forcast for the southeast this weekend so most of the leaves will be down by the time I send this blog.

I have kept the colours to the hot end of the spectrum with a couple of orchids that have just come into bloom in the nursery.I think the Cattlya hybrid is an amazing colour,very autumnal.

The lake at first light: very quiet and peaceful.The yellow foliage is Parrotia persica.

Juglans nigra: the walnut tree growing in the woodland garden. I once made the mistake of sitting on a bench beneath it having my lunch. I can tell you that a walnut falling on your head from a tree that big really hurts!

Ginko biloba: Along with the oak, the Ginko is my favourite tree.

Is there any other tree that has the pure,butter yellow leaves in Autumn? Picture taken outside the Temperate House.

Taken in a hurry, I think one is an oak,not sure about the other.

The last blooms of Helenium Sahin’s Early Flowerer with a red oak,Quercus rubra behind.

This large clump of Nandina domestica ‘Firepower’ grows in the Bamboo Garden next to the Japanese Minka House

A young red oak, Quecus rubra…

...and an old Acer palmatum var.dissectum purpureum.

This Acer palmatum is probably getting on a bit too. Taken in the Bonsai House.

An Ascocenda hybrid. I love this orchid,a ‘quiet’ orange bloom…

...while this Cattleya shouts at you!

Datura sp.

There is a small collection of Citrus shrubs/trees growing in the nursery.This is Citrus medica. You may have a problem fitting a slice of this in your gin and tonic!

Comments

Arlene

~A lovely blog Rbtkew~ that bonsai in particular is spectacular~ saw these last time I was there~

31 Oct, 2009

Bernieh

It's always a pleasure reading your blogs - your photos are a a wonderful glimpse into Kew. Love that ascocenda - such a great colour - and the old bonsai acer is magnificent. Great autumn colours.

31 Oct, 2009

Andrewr

Great autumn colours. It always helps having some big trees to give leaf colour at this time of year. Thanks for another great blog on the plants at Kew (I must get there again)

31 Oct, 2009

Louise1

Lovely colours Rbt :-)
The more i see of that Nandina the more i'm tempted.

As for the G&T ..... it'll be a decent sized glass and a slice of that decent sized lemon ;-)

31 Oct, 2009

Bluespruce

Some great autumn shots there Robert.
spellcheck - Ginkgo, not Ginko :0)

31 Oct, 2009

Bulbaholic

Lovely pictures, Rbt, I enjoyed looking at them. I don't think the lemon would be too big for a G&T - if you used a pint pot!

31 Oct, 2009

Clarice

A brill blog and the photos are great, really enjoyed it.

31 Oct, 2009

Moon_grower

Great pix Rbt - thank you!

31 Oct, 2009

Drc726

Great blog RBT loved all those rich autumn colours thanks for that.

31 Oct, 2009

Amblealice

Lovely, lovely...thank you so much. Your blogs on Kew are the only time I'll ever be there....Those colours are wonderful.....that soft orange orchid (drool).....I'll have a large G&T with ice and a slice too.......lol :))

31 Oct, 2009

Tulsalady26

Beautiful autum colours and great photos.

31 Oct, 2009

Rbtkew

Ooops.! thanks for pointing that out Bluespruce-its a hanging offence at Kew to spell the names wrong-I should know better! I will try to get a picture of Kew's oldest Ginkgo (planted 1762) if there is any leaves left on it after todays wind and rain.

1 Nov, 2009

Bluespruce

Robert - I understand kew have a good collection of Ginkgos, any chance of some more pics - before the storm hits today! if it hasn't already ?

1 Nov, 2009

Andrewr

BS - I expect it's too late. I woke this morning to high winds and heavy rain (I'm only about 25 miles from Kew)

1 Nov, 2009

Bluespruce

Shame Andrew, It's blown through here and starting to brighten up :0)

1 Nov, 2009

Spritzhenry

Thanks, Robert - more Orchids, please! I know the leaves will be off on the ground now, but at least we saw them on GOY!!! :-))))

1 Nov, 2009

Wagger

I love all of your Kew blogs and this is another gold star blog - wish my Gingko was that size. Do they cut the Heleniums right down or just deadhead them? They're certainly still flowering late.

2 Nov, 2009

Rbtkew

I think it must be down to the warm weather: I suspect they will be over by the end of this week if the weather forcast is to be believed.

3 Nov, 2009

Orgratis

I love the leaf on the Gingko, but how can you be sure to get a male and not a stinky female? Lovely end of season...

5 Nov, 2009

Balcony

Lovely autumn colours on the trees there! The bonsai tree is really fabulous, so glad we got to see it! How I wish I could spend a couple of days wandering around Kew gardens - it would be really tremendous!

5 Nov, 2009

Add a comment

Blog post by rbtkew.

17 people like this blog