Kew Botanic Gardens

After two great days at Wisley, I headed over to Kew with Charlotte.

 I met up with an old friend, Tom McCarter, who now works in the tropical nursery at Kew. Tom could not live in a more convenient location for work. He lives exactly 30 steps from the employee entrance and alpine nursery yard. Tom showed me around the tropical nusery houses as well as the cacti & succulent collections. There is an unbelievable amount of back up for every collection at Kew including the alpine nursery but I'll get to that later. 

After the private tour we naturally went to a bar called The Botanist with some of the Kew Diploma students and staff. We discussed plants and the restructuring of departments at Kew. Everyone seemed a little envious of the size of the garden I work for.

The next day I woke up early and walked 30 steps to where I met up with Joanne Everson and the rest of the alpine rock garden department. I listened to the daily meeting and then Joanne took me on a grand tour of the alpine nursery and rock garden.

Joanne and staff discussing the day's tasks 

The collections at Kew is mind blowing and impressive. Many of The National Collection of Juno Iris were in bloom as well as Dionysia, Saxifraga, Tulip species, and countless other choice alpines. 

After drooling over the nursery collection, Joanne led me to the Rock Garden and Alpine House. 

The Rock Garden at Kew

Joanne gave me in depth history of the rock garden and the way it's planted geographically to regions of the world. 

 

We bonded over similar headaches and successes that go into maintaining a rock garden i.e learning the micro-climates around the garden and how waterfall pumps break all the time. Many spring bulbs were blooming and the gardens looked immaculate. The plants are well defined and easy to locate around the freshly mulched gravel beds. Unusual species from around the world that I haven't heard of before awaited me around every corner.

troughs of all styles and plants around the rock garden and alpine house

We then went to the Alpine House. This is no ordinary alpine house. The design was well thought out by an engineer and horticulture expert. The tall and steep pitched roof acts as a cooling mechanism for maximum airflow that draws heat up and out. Minimal frame material help to reduce light loss as well as the custom glass panes. Fans blow cold air from the ground up through piping into the beds. Joanne spoke about how it really works well and keeps things cool during hot summers. 

Inside, a generous display of the best alpines were in full bloom. I noticed very little repetition of species which is due to the fact that the backup nursery has what some would say the largest selection to choose from. A landscaped tufa bed caught my eye the most as this is what I plan to build the entire Betty Ford Alpine Gardens out of. I particularly liked the way Kew stacked their tufa and learned about what goes into maintaining it. 

Stacked tufa wall

The pot display changes a little every Tuesdsay and Friday as well as the interpretation panels

a perfect Dionysia tapetodes bun in full bloom

After tea break, I met up with the rock garden team to help out with cleaning up a bed and getting it ready to mulch. It gave me a great chance to ask some more questions as well as convince everyone to visit Colorado. 

I even got my hands a little dirty on this trip

After lunch I went back to the nursery where I met up with one of the propagators. Graham took me under his wing and we headed back to the rock garden to take cuttings of an old Junellia thymifolia. Graham showed me his recipe for cuttings and he shared stories of his time spent travelling around the West and the past 25 years working at Kew. I also walked around to talk to Kitt while she was watering and managing the nusery. Kitt is responsible for the Juno Iris collection as well as many other plants. 

I took some time in the afternoon to walk around the alpine house and as much as Kew that one can do on foot in an hour. (not much, Kew is masive)

Palm house

Kew is so inspiring for gardens around the world. The work that goes into managing a collection that large is one of the most impressive feats in the public gardens world. I want to thank Joanne and the rest of the staff who took me under their wing for the day. It was a real honor to be among some of the best in horticulture.