Here and there in Kew Gardens

On Mondays, the Shirley Sherwood botanical art gallery and the Marianne North gallery at Kew Gardens are closed, but there's still lots to see - for instance, a group of three chinese pheasants stalking round in the undergrowth of the pinetum -

Their stripey hairdo of neck feathers is worn asymmetrically by the hipster in the group. (Have a look at this image, taken by Kevin Schafer.)

In search of "a typical Canadian fir tree" Heather and I spent a long time searching out tree labels and discovering the differences between fir and spruce, cedar and pine and larch and redwood and yew. It's still rather confusing, but this one turned out to be a larch -

This one, though, I've forgotten  - the photo shows new cones and, further down the branch, those from last year which have opened -

Somewhere along the way we saw this swathe of hydrangeas -

and later, at the other side of the gardens, among the famous trees is the stone pine (this shot is looking up through some branches) -

 In between, reflections of papyrus in the waterlily house -

In the gardens planted and maintained by the first-year students on Kew's diploma course, Heather pointed out how the basil leaves looked so much like fabric -

and I indulged in a spot of nostalgia over straw flowers, which my mother grew to use in wreathes and bouquets and other everlasting decorations -

Exit via the gift shop, of course - in this case, passing various herbal-flavoured chocolate bars, beautifully packaged and ... irresistible ...