Take Your Cue For Kew

Whilst I'm happily going around Chelsea today, I thought it would be a good time for you to get your diaries out for another great day out. As you may know already, Kew is 250 this year and there is a shedload of events being held in celebration. Our roving volunteer Kew guide, Emmat has exposed a shocking lack of take-up for some of the unique behind the scenes tours being held from now and all through the summer. She says:

...you can check out the DNA sequencers used to reclassify plants into different genus (boo) see the labs where they classify pollen for the police (oooh) and have a nose around the work they are doing to create anti-oxidant gardens for people affected by HIV in South Africa (hurray).

Having organised volunteer weekends in the Herbarium in the past, I know behind the scenes tours round Kew are fascinating: as if going round the gardens themselves isn't a tippity top day out to begin with. The tours are free (though general admission isn't) and there are several to choose from. Here's the full schedule for you to drool over.

See you there?

Comments

  1. Monica the Garden Faerie19 May 2009 at 16:19

    I didn't realize Kew was 250! If my mom backs out of a trip to Germany this fall, maybe I'll come by myself to London instead! Or, if she doesn't back out, I could still make a quick trip to the UK as I'd be in Hamburg! :) Hmmmm....

    ReplyDelete
  2. Zoë19 May 2009 at 16:42

    Glad you have done this - I kept meaning to! Seriously tempted to go along, haven't visited Kew in , well, much too long.

    Hope you had a fabulous day today, and aren't too worn out!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Joanne19 May 2009 at 18:38

    On my last visit to Kew I went with my daughter and her partner from The Gambia. Zion has a large piece of land not far from Sanyang beach and he is lucky to have many native trees possibly nearly every one from his country is represented there.

    So our trip through the tropical house was fascinaing as he talked about many of the plants that he has at home and more interestingly their uses for all sorts of things including medicine. He tells me that most people buy land and clear the site so his is like a little oasis. From the photos I have seen it is amazing.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Helen/patientgardener19 May 2009 at 19:52

    I'm in - as you know

    ReplyDelete
  5. Gail19 May 2009 at 23:31

    Someday! But not this time! gail

    ReplyDelete
  6. emmat20 May 2009 at 08:14

    I would love to see any blogging friends at Kew, so if you do come, leave me a comment over at my Baklava Shed in case I can come and find you. Joanne's comment is so pertinent - I so often learn amazing stories about plants from overseas visitors... (i had one the other day who kept eating all the plants though, declaring nostalgically 'i haven't seen this since i was growing up in the Seychelles!' - she LITERALLY couldn't be stopped from doing it...) xx

    ReplyDelete
  7. VP23 May 2009 at 10:33

    Monica - do come! It would be lovely to meet up!

    Zoe - I haven't been in ages either - I can remember the Princess of Wales Conservatory being built!

    Joanne - I've worked with people from Cameroon who talk about their part of the rainforest in the same way. They're fascinating people to talk to and learn from.

    PG - yes, I do :D

    Gail - hopefully your fellow bloggers will be able to fill you in a little

    Emmat - that's so funny, I can imagine you trying to do everything to stop her. Did you see Joe Swift eating Dahlias on the telly the other day BTW?

    ReplyDelete

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