Last year's group also made a pilgrimage to Kew-99. Their thoughts and images give a good overview of the gardens. I will elaborate on other issues here, so it would help to look at those pages before reading on.
Below: An sculpture depicting the violent and tragic storm of 1987 when hundreds of trees were lost or damaged at Kew. The sculpture was made from wood of the various trees that were destroyed.
Forgive me if the following thoughts seem too gushing, but a pilgrimage to Kew has been a long-standing wish of mine:
Kew Gardens...For most botanists, this name conjures up a botanical Mecca, the epicenter of botanical knowledge. While our present knowledge of plants is vast and distributed in centers of learning across the world, there is no question that in the historical development of this knowledge, Kew towers above all. Botany is now multifaceted and Kew stands out primarily in taxonomic and conservation activities. To quote from some of Kew's brochures:
"All life depends on plants. They give us oxygen, food, fuel, shelter and medicines. Yet plant species and vast areas of habitat are being destroyed all the time. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is part of a global research network seeking a better future for our world. Kew is an organisation devoted to discovery, understanding and conservation, an our botanists collaborate in vital projects all over the world. As well as 30,000 different types of living plants, this global resource includes millions of preserved specimens, seeds and DNA samples."
On Saturday, 8 July 2000, I was able to spend 9 hours at Kew, exploring as much of its vastness as I could, and only begun to get a feel for the place. While some students also spent a morning there, we did not get to meet as the place is just too large for a chance encounter. Nevertheless, while the young folk went on to enjoy other parts of London, I remained at Kew trying to soak up as much botanical 'feel' as possible ('knowledge' would take much longer to get from such a rich place). Kew is a plant-lover's paradise. Not so much in the garden sense; there are far prettier and even more impressive gardens, but few can rival Kew for botanical might and history. To help encapsulate the place, I have divided the visit into five sections with themes and topics that I found interesting:
1. A look at Conservatories
2. Plant themes
3. Garden themes
4. Trees
5. Plant Evolution