Письма Миссис Толл: A Trip to Kew

Ещё одно письмо-репортаж Миссис Толл. 

A Trip to Kew

May 08, 2001

Dear Valya,

Here we are driving past the Houses of Parliament, and heading up Millbank to Chelsea. We are in the Daimler, so you will have plenty of room, and be quite comfortable. Chelsea has always been a smart and expensive area, and a popular place for writers and artists. Then on to Chiswick, another popular and affluent area, over Kew Bridge, and turn right into the car park for Kew.

Kew used to be a Royal Palace and the gardens were founded in 1793 by Princess Augusta, and some of the trees she planted are still there. Its proper name is the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, and as well as being a famous and popular tourist attraction, it has a major research and conservation function. The National Lottery (which I'll write about some time) gave Kew a huge sum of money to set up the Millennium collection, a huge collection of very known type of seed from all over the world, to protect the future of plants threatened with extinction.

There are three hundred acres of gardens of every conceivable type. Before we start we go to the Orangery (where yes, they used to grow oranges) which is now a restaurant, and buy coffee, sandwiches and cake. It is warm and sunny enough to eat and drink outside. There are lots of visitors, and everyone is enjoying the sunshine.

There are lots of gardens within gardens in Kew, and fountains, lakes and statues. We head off to the Princess of Wales conservatories, which are new. They are a series of controlled environments, with plants appropriate to the conditions. The opening to the conservatories is dominated by a huge Japanese style garden, which is very impressive. I have bought a post card of the conservatory for you to see. My favourite plants are the exotic orchids, which I have also bought pictures off for you. They were growing in huge baskets from the roof, dangling down almost brushing our faces. They were in wonderful colours, white, red purple, and mixtures. The orchids were also growing on full sized trees, and were a magnificent sight.

We walked down to the lake with the fountains and ducks, and the huge palm house, built in the reign of Queen Victoria, and based on the hull of an upturned ship. It is warm and steamy inside, and the palms are huge and breathtaking.

As we walk through, we notice the large amount of foreign tourists, I identify French and German, and a number of Asiatic and Oriental languages. We decide this shows that people of every nation love plants and flowers.

We walk out of the Palm House to the formal planted borders outside facing the lake, they are a sea of yellow and white, and to my delight I see the same purple and white tulips I have at home, and I am proud to say mine look every bit as good as the ones at Kew.

We walk over to the water lily house, where the big enclosed pond is showing different water lilies, and we agree that the vivid blue ones are the best.

We also admire the morning glories, another vivid blue, growing inside the building. Another house specializes in fragrant plants, and has chairs you can sit in to inhale the fragrance. Of course, there are plants and shrubs everywhere outside, and something pretty to look at everywhere. Really it is a lovely place. Eventually we make our way back to the car, and have an uneventful drive home.

Did you find everything you needed for your music questions, Valya? If not let me know what you need and I'll have a search on the Internet.

Best wishes. Write soon.

Sue