Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The garden was nice but not worth 13 pounds. To top it off, the tram would cost 4 pounds extra and a GPS was another 5 pounds. The garden didn't have alot of useful signs so made it difficult to navigate. We were in circles. The Queen's Cottage was very disappointing. Also, there were lots of plants but not enough signs with commentaries so I wasn't sure what I was looking at. Maybe it's a garden for experts.

We visited Kew last weekend.

Very Disappointed.

I would never describe Kew as Gardens.

Were are the hibacius borders

Rose Gardens

Fruit trees and bushes

Vegatable gardens.

Examples of wild flowers.

Kew gardens. As a lad it was popular with the Blue Peter television programme, they always seemed to be there forcing nature down at you like it was some sort of cough medicine that was good for you. Kew always seemed a faraway place to me even from Preston.

As I started to visit some botanical gardens around the world with a more benign climate where exotic plants flourish, I decided to pay a visit to Kew. Just out of curiosity as to what we can conjure up here with the British weather.

Ah the British weather, I went there in July 2007, it was a lovely summer's morning went I entered the park, but looming clouds were gathering and soon it was dodge the rain.

To summarise Kew is a In July 2003 it became a UNESCO world heritage site.

After admiring some Henry Moore sculptures, placed for a forthcoming exhibition, we started with a tram tour. You pay extra for this but you are guided around the gardens and then decide what part you wish to explore. It has 8 stops and lasts about 40 minutes.

From the tram tour we made our way to the Temperate House. This is the world's largest ornamental glasshouse holding a collection of subtropical plants. They are set out geographically. The northern wing contains species from Asia, the north octagon has plants from Australasia and the Pacific Islands, the south octagon holds a collection of South African proteas. The south wing has Mediterranean and African plants. In the centre are subtropical trees.

We then walked about to other parts of the gardens and getting the kids to have a run around. When it stared to rain we made way to the Climbers and Creepers zone which is the interactive play area for kids. Our kids had fun playing and taking part in the various activities.

When the rain held off we made our way to the Princess of Wales conservatory. This glasshouse has 10 climatic zones, ranging from arid to moist tropical, under one roof.

Despite unfavourable growing conditions Kew has one of the most comprehensive plant collections in Britain. We should count ourselves lucky that we have such an attraction.