Living in Utah...Dreaming of the World: Kew Gardens

Today can be summed up in two words: Kew Gardens. This was an optional group outing, which means that we weren't required to go, but it was bought and paid for if we wanted to come.

It took about an hour to get to the Gardens from the flats; the small group I travelled with and I arrived at 10am. After we entered, we split into smaller groups to tour the gardens. After about an hour, I lost my group and spent the rest of the time wandering by myself, which I didn't really mind. I tend to spend far more time looking at growing things than most people do, and so it was better that I wasn't holding others back or being pushed along too quickly, I think. :) I'm so weird sometimes. I ran into others from the program occasionally, and we'd chat for a minute before once again separating. The only hard part about being on my own was that I didn't have a map...and navigating the 325 acre Gardens without a map is rather challenging. :)

If you know me at all, you know that I LOVE the outdoors, especially plants and birds. I still remember a good deal of what I learned in Environmental Solutions in high school, which means that I can identify many of the local trees, flowers, and grasses. Needless to say, I felt like a kid in a candy store at Kew Gardens. Quite honestly, my first coherent thought after about 5 minutes of walking was "this is paradise". I'm absolutely in love with the whole thing! I managed to see most of it, but I'll admit that I rushed through the last bit. I was almost definitely the last person of the whole study abroad to leave...most people I've talked to left after 4 hours or so (about 2pm). I didn't leave until 5pm. Well, I had to cover over 300 acres! That takes at LEAST 7 hours, right? :)

One of the most stunning things about the gardens is how difficult it is to find a duplicate of anything. That's how many different varieties of trees, shrubs, flowers, etc., there are. It's mindblowing. As I wandered around (on or off the paths - you're allowed to walk just about anywhere, and since it's so huge and most of the groundcover is grass or other hardy plants, it all still looks beautiful) I saw a Bamboo garden, a Rhododendron walk, a lake, Redwoods, a Japanese Zen-type garden, a waterlily pond, an ivy garden, an iris garden, a holly walk, and too many others to name. Some of the neatest attractions were the two large glass houses. One was essentially a world tour of plants, and the other was a zone-by-zone tour (you know, like you see on the back of seed packages? "Grows best in zone x"). The zone-by-zone was really amazing. As I passed through glass doors I went from cool, humid irises to dry, cool deserts to warm, humid jungles in a matter of metres. The massive variety of life that is present in such a relatively tiny area of land just blows my mind.

Essentially, I fell in love with yet another corner of London today. It was absolutely beautiful. I'll post a few pictures, but I just have to warn you: they do the Gardens a great injustice by trying to capture all the wonderful sights, sounds, smells, and feels in a pathetically two-dimensional way.

Cheers!

Awww...look at the little ducklings...there were little duck families all over the place, thanks to the time of year! Hooray spring!

The Japanese Gardens. Isn't it stunning?

There were peacocks everywhere...weird, right? This one was nice enough to fan out for us (after a toddler ran right up to him and probably scared him to death. Hey, those of us with cameras appreciated it!)