Stroll Into Summer At Kew!

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, popularly known as Kew Gardens, is a sprawling expanse of green in Southwest London that comes alive in the spring and summer, welcoming throngs of people to its serene locale housing a huge variety of flora. I visited the gardens on a sunny and cool day in June. The weather was perfect for exploring the place on foot. Though, at the end of the day I was left with sore, aching feet, missing several sites that I had meant to go to, but didn't have the time for. Nevertheless, what I could manage to see was wonderfully refreshing and very enjoyable indeed. 

What began as gardens surrounding royal residences several centuries ago is a United Nations World Heritage Site today. Spread over 326 acres, the site has 40 historically important buildings and a collection of over 40, 000 species of plants. It houses an internationally important institute for botanical research too.

Easily accessible by the London Underground, it provides an escape from the hustle and bustle of city life to Londoners and tourists alike. With instructions, maps and directions, the place is very easy to reach for a first-time visitor like me. Having bought my ticket for Pounds 15, I am all set to take in the Gardens. Here are some pictures giving a glimpse of my visit. They are not necessarily in any order, just enjoy them!

The Gardens are a short walk away from this lovely little station. A signboard at the station invites visitors to "Stroll into summer" at Kew. Outside, the street is lined with beautiful houses on both sides. Each house has a pretty garden in front, with colourful flowers and pleasant landscaping.

One of the several splendid paths in the Gardens. One can walk to one's heart's content breathing in fresh air and then take a break on a bench like the one in the picture below, thoughtfully provided all over the park.

I loved the light and the shadows in this picture!

The Treetop Walkway is fun, allowing one to climb 18 metres high into a canopy of lime, sweet chestnut and oak trees for a bird's eye view of the Gardens. There is a staircase and a lift as well.

The elegant Palm House is an icon of the Gardens. You step into the warm and moist interiors to take a look at the tropical plants being nurtured there. The plants look fresh and full of life, in spite of being grown in an artificially maintained atmosphere. Outside, the rose shrubs are in full bloom, adding colour, beauty and a mild fragrance to the surroundings.

Warmer and more moist than the Palm House is the Waterlily House!

Lake and the Sackler Crossing! This is one of the most tranquil sites in the Gardens. The crossing, seen at a distance in the above picture offers stunning views of the lake, trees, sky, and ducks and swans gliding playfully in the waters.

The shapely curve of the Sackler Crossing!

The Rock Garden is aesthetically landscaped. It features mountain plants from six different regions of the world. One can see plants and flowers in abundance that one may never have seen before. 

Photos by Lata

These lovely orchids are on display at the Princess of Wales Conservatory. This large glasshouse contains ten climatic zones. It is home to a huge variety of plant life including ferns, cacti, orchids, waterlilies and carnivorous plants. The sheer variety and arrangement of plants takes your breath away!

There is much more to see and do at the Gardens. This post and these pictures are just a sampler!

Flowers From Korea, With Love!

Ggotggozi (or Ggotgozi) may be difficult to pronounce, but what it stands for is sheer beauty. It is the Korean art of flower arrangement!

The gallery at the Inko Centre in Chennai played host to an exhibition of this art from June 18 to 20. Inko Centre is an entity that is established with an aim to promote inter-cultural dialogue between India and Korea. This flower exhibition was one of their various activities.

As I entered the gallery, several cheerful arrangements greeted me with their colours and a faint, sweetish scent.

They stood elegantly in simple vases lined along the white walls. Leaves, twigs and flowers creating open, flowing designs that not only appeal to your senses, but also calm them.

Each arrangement soothes you, trying to hold your attention for just a wee bit more time, the tall twigs in them literally standing out proudly.

Sure, there are bright colours, but they are not overbearing. There is space, and a delicate lightness about the creations on display.

Talented artists representing different flower associations in Korea had put together this show in Chennai.

Flowers were especially flown in from Korea. Barring a couple of arrangements that had some dyed elements, all were natural.

Not much information is available on Ggotggozi. I wish the organizers had provided some, introducing this art to visitors in Chennai.

It would have been wonderful to meet the artists in person and get to know more about their art directly from them. But that was not possible.

However, their names are Lee Jong Im, Chairman, Im Flower Association--Jang Eun Ki, Chairman, Chang Hyun Flower Association--Kim Jung, Chairman, Ye In Flower Association--Kim Young Ae, Chairman, Bloomy Flower Association--Choi Myung Sook, Chairman, Korea Ggotggozi Association--Choi Jin Ok, Assistant Chairman, Korea Flower Arrangement Association and Chairman Ka Hyang Flower Association--Kivak Eun Joo, Chairman, in Chennai, India Git Bi Flower Association--Kim Joong Ae, Chairman, Git Bi Flower Association and Kina Eun Hee, Chairman, Eun Hyang Flower Association.

Photos by Lata

It was lovely seeing their charming creations! Hoping to see more of their art in times to come!!

Delhi This Winter: A Picture Book!

I spent the past week in Delhi. I walked, went in auto rickshaws, took buses and boarded the Metro at times. The days were cold, the sun was feeble and the sky generally overcast. The haze would not go away until almost noon. But I used my camera to my heart's content. Here are some glimpses from my outings.

It is a riot of colours with chrysanthemums--called guldaudi locally--blooming across the city!

Winter is the time to flaunt one's silks. Some lovely options in a store window.

Cycle rickshaw is still a popular mode of transport in Old Delhi. This street is chock-a-block with vehicles on a cold and dreary winter afternoon.

Kejriwal smiles at you from posters all over the city. At a bus stop in South Delhi.

Isa Khan's tomb inside the Humayun's Tomb complex. It is so neat that it reminds one of a tiered cake!

This ceiling with this intricate painting is in the tomb complex. Perfect symmetry and bright colours! And they built it about five centuries ago. Amazing!!

Winter is the time for school picnics. The complex was teeming with children from several schools. Supervised by their teachers, these girls wait outside Humayun's Tomb.

Coffee Home, Baba Kharak Singh Marg. This spacious eatery in the busy Connaught Place area is a favourite haunt of shoppers as well as office-goers. The outdoor area under the shade of this huge tree is an added attraction.

The dome of this lovely structure in the Hauz Khas Complex catches the rays of a hesitant sun on a somewhat hazy morning.

A doorway to the mysteries of history. At the Hauz Khas Complex.

The Hauz Khas Complex is frequented mostly by college students. The ancient ruins act as a backdrop for the cellphone-toting modern generation. An interesting contrast!

Hauz Khas...the royal tank! It is hard to believe that this tranquil expanse is right in the middle of a bustling metropolis.

Hauz Khas Village. Small boutiques, art galleries and fancy little restaurants in an old setting. These spaces have been created without changing much of the original structures. Expensive, but unique and charming at the same time.

These winter vegetables on a cart by the roadside are so inviting...they are bursting with freshness. Attractive colours too!

Flowers...another of nature's bounties. Neatly decked up in bouquets at a roadside stall.

Christmas is a winter phenomenon. It is time for shopping, fun and food at a mall; the decorations adding to the festive atmosphere. Another riot of colours here!

A Bridge In A Garden

It is a floral extravaganza. A colourful heaven of natural beauty just an hour away from the bustling metropolis of Paris. We are at Claude Monet's Garden in Giverny. This is where he lived and worked in the later part of his life. A lovely house opening into a wonderful garden. This was built and nurtured by the master himself.

Claude Monet (1840 - 1926), one of the founders of the French impressionist movement, started painting at a time when most artists preferred to paint in a studio. He broke away from this practice by painting outdoors, using Nature itself as his inspiration. This style was called "impressionism", named after his work Impression, soleil levant (Impression, sunrise).  Before his time, it was common for artists to create artworks that were smooth. He began painting with rapid brush strokes. This gave his works their characteristic rough look (when seen from close quarters).

 

In 1883, he discovered Giverny when the train he was travelling in passed by this little place. Eventually, he moved to Giverny and bought land to build a house and develop a garden. He lived there pretty much for the rest of his life and painted. He painted the same object at different times of the day in different light. So this location not only provided him a comfortable residence, but it also gave him a stimulating environment to work. His property saw some bad times as a result of damage and neglect during the second world war. It was restored over a period of time and thrown open to public. It attracts about 500,000 visitors in the seven months that it is open in a year.

It is a lovely summer day and the gardens are agog with tourists. Many of them are part of groups that have descended from buses, and some like us who have arrived from Paris by train. The green arches lining the path to the house are covered with rose vines. And the whole garden is covered with flowers of different hues.

The house is open, airy and bright, with large windows looking out into the garden. It speaks of the idyllic lifestyle of its residents. All the rooms are done up well, with period furniture and furnishings. The yellow dining room with a huge dining table and the old-fashioned blue kitchen are very warm and inviting. Photography is not permitted in the house, so we do not have any pictures of these charming rooms, but we click to our hearts' content once we are outside in the gardens.

Go to the other side of the road via the tunnel and you find yourself in the water garden.This has been inspired by the Japanese gardens that Monet was familiar with through his collection of prints. This is where the piece de resistance in this complex is located. It is the celebrated green bridge which has been featured in a series of paintings by Monet. It is a small bridge, built across a small pond filled with water lilies. And then there are the weeping willows, and the bamboo grove, more bridges, and of course, the flower beds flaunting blossoms; some rare, some common, but all of them bursting with colour and energy. 

In spite of the presence of hundreds of visitors, the place is serene in its own way. I wonder if it is the collective vitality of all these flowers, the unadulterated natural ambiance, or the wondrous interplay between the water, the flowers, the leaves and the bridges that brings a soothing feel of calm to your senses.

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For more information on the garden, check this.

Enjoy some more pictures from the garden and a picture of a painting by Monet from the bridge series.

 

 

All photos in the garden by Prateek