A Garden Sunday

Today, I went with a group of colleagues to the Royal Botanic Gardens, otherwise known as Kew Gardens. We got there around 1pm and it stayed rainless (except for a single drop that landed on my nose) our entire stay! The gardens were massive; one could spend an entire day there and not see everything. There were many, many parents with children, and while it was annoying to trip over toddlers at every turn, had I children, I would have been out with them as well. It's not really a proper 'garden,' but a giant park with labeled trees and shrubs everywhere.

I spent a lot of time in the Tropical and Temperate Climate conservatories, originally built in the 19th century. I've always associated conservatories with giant British houses, probably because the only time I encountered them was when I watched Masterpiece Theatre as a young girl. These conservatories are great Victorian structures of hand-blown glass and steel that stand out like space ships in the green habitat. The one on the left houses all the palm trees and tropical plants. One can even climb up a spiral staircase and walk around on a second story balcony to see the tops of the palms at eye level.

It was during our picnic today that I had my first Scotch Egg. Apparently it's traditional picnic food here and meant to be eaten cold. It was quite good, although I only had half since everyone brought more food than we needed. I can imagine that it would be a good and easy snack to bring on a day's walk in the country. I contributed crackers and black olive tapenade, bread, and an interesting goat's milk cheddar.

My two favorite moments of the day came when I caught whiffs of two smells I associate with my life in California. The temperate greenhouse was home to many plants that are in my apartment complex. K. will be loath to find out that there were many examples of the ferns that once shaded our patio. (These ferns shed their spores twice a year all over our patio, creating a fine brown film that got on everything. They are very pretty, but really gross.) Anyway, I was walking down the path and smelled the wonderful scent of jasmine -- the familiar smell of a Los Angeles spring. Where ever I live I will plant jasmine by my patio. There is nothing better than relaxing in the evening to the sweet aroma of those little white flowers. The second smell was the odor of pine trees as we walked along the section of the park dedicated to conifers. I actually hugged the Oregon Douglass Fir, much to the chagrin of my more-proper friends!