Kew Gardens behind the scenes

Through my volunteering at the Victoria and Albert Museum, my team were granted a behind the scenes visit to Kew Gardens. We went on a Wednesday when the weather was sunny, which I took as a positive omen as they have extensive gardens and it's mostly outside. Kew Gardens I would recommend to visit during the summer. It's also an expensive place to visit, so one should plan their visit by using the official website where you can discover more and learn some facts before going in person.

Museum life for me is fascinating; I literally cannot get enough of visiting museums. I have always known of them, and in the same way that is how I knew of Kew Gardens' existence. I first went when I was about fifteen to see the famous Victorian built greenhouse. What I really liked about my very first visit is that it inspired me to want to come back to explore more of Kew Gardens. I then next went with a Cambridge graduate who was in charge of the puppet shows which they do for the school groups at Kew. Then I went again for the Christmas festival of lights. That was brilliant as one could explore the gardens in the dark when they were decorated with lights and the ponds were astonishing as they were covered in the reflections of all the lights.

There were eight of my team who went on the outing. As I was the first to reach the cafe (an old habit I picked up from my father, being always to be on time) I sat gazing at all of the beautiful greenery around me. The last time I had been at Kew was for the festival of lights at night time. One sees places differently at night time. I was astonished by how well done the lights were and the fireworks too. It made me want to re-discover Kew gardens in the day time, and here I was. This time my trip to Kew Gardens took place in beaming sunshine and I became hooked on the sightseeing from the moment I arrived.

I felt very privileged to have a my new companions at my side as we walked through these iconic grounds. I had a few favourite spots that I liked seeing which I would recommend to people that they should see. The first one is the Ethereal White Persian Pond, by Dale Chihuly, in the Waterlily House. I really connected with the sculpture as I thought it looked the most natural.

Dale Chihuly has become rather famous among artists for being daring and doing new pieces of art in glass. I think that what Dale Chihuly is trying to do, is to make his audience be more aware of nature. He wants his objects, made of glass , to appear as though they have always been part of Nature. I think this is great to bring people more awareness of nature through his glass sculptures.

On our day trip at Kew Gardens we saw Chihuly's In the Light of Jerusalem (1999) exhibit in the new museum. I think they were rather good objects with lots of colour, and the staff whom I spoke to definitely knew what they were talking about. Apparently, Dale Chihuly lost a eye to when he was blowing glass. Now he is so famous that he has a team of eager artists to do the work for him.

My reflections on nature are about how fragile the climate and the environment are at the moment, and how it is always changing. It reminded me of some of the Chihuly sculptures which I saw in the garden; they too looked rather fragile. I like the artist Dale Chihuly as for me it's rather "in your face" art. I also rather admire the use of colour which he adds to each individual sculpture. Kew Gardens is bringing 50 years of Chihuly's art together, and when we were having our picnic on the grass ,the volunteers were talking about how he must feel seeing all of his life's works in one place, at Kew.

I learned on my trip to Kew Gardens that it now holds 30,000 living strong specimens. One of which is the oldest pot plant in the UK. The plant itself is a enormous cyad plant from the Jurassic period. The plant hunter Francis Masson in the early 1770's found this amazing old pot plant. It became one of the first plants in Kew Gardens and it is amazing to see up close. In my articles I try not to bombard my readers with to many facts, dates or names. I put a few important statistics to keep interests piqued and that is all. The main point of these articles is that you can know some useless facts and trivia for dinner parties. My most recent fun fact that I learned on this outing is that Kew is home to the smallest Royal Palace which is a Grade 2 listed building.

During my tour of Kew Gardens I saw wonderful landscapes and trees. I liked being in the quiet spaces, especially in London where being surrounded with greenery is rather rare. On our group outing we were able to get to know one another a bit more. I was with eight very wise women all of whom I greatly respect. I think that I am very lucky indeed to have such a great new team I can learn from.

I liked the trip to Kew Gardens as there is nothing like visiting a huge and extensive garden on a sunny day. I also think that it's great exercise, and not just for the legs but also for the mind, as without realising, it's being stretched with new and exciting exhibits. The mind soaks up information like a sponge and most people are not aware that it is happening; that their mind grows after a trip like this.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder I think people can see beauty within the Gardens of Kew. The Gardens of Kew represent the height of civilisation. One can visit many times and always learn a new fact about the massive gardens. I think that with the Chelsea Flower Show and Kew Gardens, there is a link in that "culture" is at the forefront of the minds of the visiters. I certainly feel much more elevated once having visited. The outing with my new volunteering team was a great building exercise in part because when one is walking and talking in a Garden, it's much more relaxed than learning in a classroom.