Blue Cockatoo Traveller: beautiful Kew

Dale Chihuly: Summer Sun. Photo By Alison Plummer.©

"It's going to get spicy," says the ticket person as my friend takes out a year's membership of London's Kew Gardens. He means really busy but, because of the new membership status, we are able to skip the queues that have already formed on this gloriously sunny and warm Easter Monday, experiencing that giddy rush associated with an upgrade!

In the gardens it's a seriously perfect spring day. The leaves are dressing the trees in fresh spring shades of green, the tulips are showy in their splendid attire. Multiple-headed narcissi are strewn beneath showy magnolias with petals like porcelain.

'Flaming Parrot' tulips, above, and below with Chihuly Paintbrushes.
Photos by Alison Plummer.©

We've come to see the gardens of course, but primarily the glass installations of Chihuly: Reflections on nature as legendary American glass artist Dale Chihuly returns to Kew with glass artworks including some never seen before in the UK. In the chat about membership and the crowds expected we have not picked up the map indicating the installations, so we set off on our own route, seeing many of Kew's features along the way including The Hive, an incredible geometric beehive, resonating with vibrations of living bees in a hive at Kew.

Problem is, there's just so much happening at Kew that each feature is a story in itself. There are ancient trees and the Tree Top Walkway, the Palm House and the Princess of Wales Conservatory. The Marianne North Gallery is dedicated to the female artist who travelled solo in the late 1800s to paint plants in their natural settings. Families with kids also adore Kew – a new Children's Garden will open in May, designed as a fun interactive space in a setting the size of 40 tennis courts.

The entire Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is a UNESCO World Heritage site containing more than 50,000 plants in diverse collections in the grounds and in the famous glasshouses. The restored Temperate House, the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world, re-opened in 2018 after a five year renovation and houses over 10,000 rare and endangered plants.

The Temperate House is not only a landmark building but also a centre for study into the future of plant science and issues including climate change, drawing on more than 250 years of plant study. The Temperate House is also currently home to many of the stunning Chihuly installations including some with a marine theme. On our way there we see a field of fritillaries and more Chihuly in white, purple and blue as well as these Cattails and Copper Birch Reeds (above and right) erupting from a long grassy field of tulips.

What's fascinating to contemplate is that the exhibition will remain in place until October 2019 and so the outdoor settings will change seasonally from spring to summer planting followed by autumn colours. I think my friend will get more than her money's worth from her membership! Living on the doorstep, popping in for a look will be irresistible. As we leave after three hours there's still a queue - busy, OK spicy, indeed!