Kew Gardens is a magical place. It's an oasis in the hustle and bustle of London, offering an escape that takes you around the world as you visit the greenhouses, ponds and tearooms.

Sometimes you just have to take an afternoon off work and explore London's corners, visiting places like Kew which remind you that you're not holed up in an urban jungle.



Luckily, last week I had an excuse to head Kew-Wards.This is my friend Richard, and we decided to spend his last day in London visiting Kew Gardens. On our way, we met a really bizarre man on the train who noticed that we were all wearing the same shoes. He also confessed that he owned 25 pairs of said shoes, so I suppose he often meets people wearing the same ones.

















I've become really interested in textures and patterns in my design work, and what better place to take inspiration from, than from nature herself?

















The geometrics are fabulous, and the colour combinations all make their way from my camera into my designs as websites, drawings and paintings. So really, it's more of a reconnaissance mission for work than an afternoon off. Really.
















There's something about being surrounded by all of this natural wonder that makes you feel just a little more alive than you do when you're inside the bricks and mortar of London. Whether it's all the symmetry (which I love), the shades and colours, the vistas of rolling lawns - or just the fresh air.



Even the sculptures dotted in and around the gardens feel as if they have been incorporated into the environment, in a way that makes them come alive.

These giant water lilies are my favourite feature. They are the most enormous water lily pads you have ever seen! This pond is filled with black water (dyed) to prevent algae from growing. There are many types of water lilies and flowers in the pond, and thousands of little fish.





















You get the distinct impression that they'd be strong enough to hold a person - and look: I found an old photo of a little girl sitting all aplomb atop a solid water lily pad, circa 1900.























Even the interiors are overgrown and beautiful. This reminds me of the greenhouse (?) from the movie 5 Children and IT.

On the far end of Kew are the magical Oriental Gardens - it's as if you have stepped out of the noise of the Big Smoke and stepped into the quiet of a Japanese tea garden.























... and if you're quiet enough, and patient, you might just happen upon the place where the fairies visit! Doesn't it look like the foot of the Faraway Tree?

Nothing quite cures a headache like a bit of outdoors, and I've learnt this weekend that London has its fair share of outdoors! I've also learnt this week that:

1) Bus drivers are really grumpy when the weather is particularly bad
2) There are many wonderful wide-open spaces in London waiting to be discovered
3) Working until 11pm every night is Very Bad Indeed
4) A little cake goes a long way to lifting the spirits
5) I've really gone off TV in a big way.

But back to Kew.






















Who would have thought that you'd find something as wonderful as this in London Town? Yes, the skies were a bit grey, but just look! I've been reading a lot of gardening theory lately as I work on my essay proposal for university purposes (a work in progress that I've been doing on and off these last few years in England) and it was really lovely to finally make the trek across town to Kew Gardens.

















But first: Let Them Eat Cake. I made the trip with the EEWI ladies as this month we did something rather different for our coffee morning. By the by, that's a chocolate banana cake. Doesn't it look decadent?

















I chose a rather delicious chocolate and pear muffin (which I couldn't finish) and we sipped on coffee and discussed quilting (as you do) at the Orange Tree. The Orange Tree is a sort of canteen-style dining area, but it's much nicer as you have the option to sit outside and admire the surrounds as you fill up on energy for the long walk around.

















And so, once fuelled and ready to go, we gathered our forces and split ways to explore the lovely Kew Gardens. Karin was an exceptional guide as she took us from greenhouse to greenhouse, along paths and through walks. The plant above is claimed to be the oldest living pot plant in the world (it made its way to Kew in 1770) - and it's from home, South Africa.

















Doesn't it have the most wonderful texture?

















I particularly wanted to see the waterlillies that were 'so big a child could sit on them'. No way. No way.

















It just goes to show that you really do have to believe, sometimes. Because the impossible isn't really that impossible. Look at how enormous they are!


The colours and textures all work together beautifully to create a very inspirational palette indeed. I particularly love these colours and the hue variations with the light yellows and lilacs against the dark crocodile black and green.

















And these. Well. These are David LivingStones. That's what I called them; they're actually stone plants (Lithops) - living stones - and they disguise themselves as pebbles to avoid being eaten by predators. I thought they looked like brains. Who would want to eat brains? They sold these in the Kew Shop and I was oh-so-tempted to take a few David LivingStones home with me for my desk.

















All in all, a jolly fine day - and a lovely outing about town with the EEWI ladies who always seem to be in such good spirits. It was the perfect break from a series of Quite Horrible Days, and gave me a boost of energy to get through the last of the project I was working on. Back to normal working days for a while now, hurrah!