Once, Kew Gardens was first and foremost a scientific, botanical garden, and the public knew it…lovely to walk through – lots of nice trees, shrubs and flowers as well as the Palm houses -but information was sparse. Ok, it was only a penny to enter, but you remained not a whit wiser Not any more – Kew has embraced ‘user-friendliness’ with gusto! Everything is labelled with riveting information
DID YOU KNOW?
Kew has the oldest pot plant in the world: a cycad brought to Kew from South Africa in 1775 by Francis Masson.
It also has the tree that ‘grants all wishes’ – the Coconut Palm – its leaves, fruit, nuts meeting all your needs in life. In Hawaii one is planted whenever a child is born.
And don’t be fooled by the delicate and brilliant water lilies – like ethereal ballet dancers they are supported on immensely tough ‘pegs’, and their seeds are spread by beetles who use the flowers to provide bed and breakfast…