A very beautiful
place to visit in autumn is The Royal
Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London. If you are in the city during this season, try
to reserve some time to visit the gardens and enjoy the fall colors.
Kew covers an area of over 132 hectares on the banks
of the River Thames, between Richmond and Kew in south-west London. This area
once belonged to the Royal family a few
centuries ago, and these gardens have a long history and preserve many nice
memories.
Today Kew ‘s living plant collection is the largest and
most comprehensive in the world, containing representatives of more than 1 in 8
of all flowering plants species. This romantic and wonderful garden also has
different and important scientific missions.
Many species
within the living collection are endangered in their natural habitats, and Kew
is increasingly involved in their conservation as threats to the world’s
vegetation escalate. Specimens of such plants are cultivated and propagated for
distribution to other botanic gardens, or, whenever possible, returned to their
natural habitats.
The knowledge and expertise of Kew’s scientific and
horticultural staff is shared with other botanists and the public by means of
publications, scientific conferences and educational programmes.
Kew also has one of the world's foremost botanical libraries, containing over 120.000 books as well as journals, papers, illustrations, and an extensive archive.
Kew also has one of the world's foremost botanical libraries, containing over 120.000 books as well as journals, papers, illustrations, and an extensive archive.
These large gardens are an ideal area to come with children, they not
only learn about nature but at the same time have special and extensive areas
to play, and also Kew organize many activities for them, such as children’s
egg trails at easter, Christmas activities in December and into the New Year
and so.
The art is also present in the Kew Gardens
throughout the year. One of the permanent exhibitions that I like so much is
the Marianne North Gallery. This painter who was born in Hastings in 1830,
travelled widely around the world, often enduring considerable discomfort, in
order to paint flowers in their natural habitats.
She also generously offered to provide a suitable building in which to display her paints, and asked her friend, the architectural historian, James Fergusson, to design the Gallery, which was opened to the public in June 1882. This is another beautiful way to enjoy the flowers in Kew Gardens.
She also generously offered to provide a suitable building in which to display her paints, and asked her friend, the architectural historian, James Fergusson, to design the Gallery, which was opened to the public in June 1882. This is another beautiful way to enjoy the flowers in Kew Gardens.
