London’s Kensington Garden Flower Walk
Back to our September trip. So Judy and I took a train from the Loire to Paris, and then another from Paris to London, passing under the English Channel. For people in that part of the world this is not a big deal but it made us feel so very sophisticated.
One of the first things we did in London was visit Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. We saw only a fraction of these enormous public spaces. Also, I have only a vague idea of what most of the plants were. But frankly I’m tired tonight, so this post will be more pics and less narrative.
We started out by walking through Hyde Park.
We discovered the Albert Memorial after passing into Kensington Garden. Judging from this monument, there was nothing reserved about Queen Victoria’s feelings for her late husband. The memorial is a bit over the top with heaps of statuary. At the four corners of the monument are figures representing the devastation felt at Albert’s death in all four corners of the globe. That’s what it seemed like anyway. I think the statuary above represents the Near East.
And the Albert Memorial Hall was also close at hand.
Once we were done paying our respects to Albert, we enjoyed the Kensington Garden Flower Walk.
More soon on our time in London.
gardeninacity 
That red and white flower is a ‘Hot Lips’ Salvia. They do really well here in the PNW. And I think the plant that looks like a thistle is a cardoon. What a fun trip you guys had last summer, you just went gallivanting all over the place.
Hot Lips, a very apt name. I guess I thought Impatiens because they sort of reminded me of jewelweed.
Thanks for walking me down memory lane. The palm tree was planted in the 1980’s. It’s hardy for the UK climate. I know it has a yellow flower. In small clusters . Another reason it’s protected is because it’s surrounded by shrubs and large trees. Which creates its own microclimates.
Interesting blog. Alison is right: Salvia ‘Hot Lips’.The plant you thought might be Fuchsia is a Cuphea and the thistle is a cardoon:Cynara cardunculus. It sounds as if you had a good trip.
Chloris
I grow a Cuphea but we call it cigar plant the botanical name is C. ignea. Excellent plant for hummingbirds.
Glad you enjoyed the London parks Jason
As always, too much to see, so little time. But what we saw we liked.
Nice. Have never been to London so thanks for this tour.
You’re welcome. It was our first trip there.
Brings back memories. Thanks for that Jason. ‘Hot Lips’ plants are available at Plant Delights.
Yep, Plant Delights seems like the kind of place that would have it.
You guys really do get around! Alison is right on the ID’s, I believe…and yes, England is similar in climate to the PNW…certain Palms are hardy here (although they typically look pretty ratty…as your picture shows).
Well, it was a two week trip, a week each in France and the UK. Wish we could do it every year. I got a bunch more posts on the UK I’ll do over the winter.
Jason, I love your photos they remind me the time when I’ve been to Hide park and fed the swans as well! Kensington Garden is nice, many flowers and for me it’s surprisingly the fuchsias that are blooming in September.
I see you had interesting tour!
The climate in London is so much milder than Chicago, and, I imagine, St. Petersburg. So you see many plants blooming late in the season.
The fuschias that used to be planted would be almost like minature flowering trees. You could save the plants from one year to the next just simply by digging them up and protecting them in a cold frame a green house or buried sometimes in the ground. In the spring you look for the live shoots and cut back anything to those live growths before beginning to feed the plants up again for the next season.
Plants and flowers make me very excited!! Lovely photos and after looking at all this snow it really did make me realize how much I love plants!!! Glad you two made the most of your amazing trip!
One of the great things about summer vacation pictures is they make a great escape from winter!
Wow, London too, your summer trip sounds wonderful – Apparently Prince Albert was a keen gardener and is believed to have given the Italian gardens (located inside Kensington gardens) to Queen Victoria as a gift. He then sadly died a year later aged only 42. Looking forward to see where else you visited.
I didn’t know he died so young, or that he was a keen gardener. I wonder how long they were married.
Just 21 years, they had 9 children and by all accounts were very much in love.
Have a great holiday and best wishes for a fabulous gardening 2014.
I really love this type of planting – colourful and friendly without being “clever” and showy… the English do know how to plant up public parks nicely. 😀
That would seem to be the case!
Good to see the old smoke! I loved that pic of the pigeons following the guy…priceless!xxx
He did have quite a following, I must say.
I read a blog by a girl in the south of England who does have a palm tree in her yard year round. I was surprised too. That’s an amazing place. I love the arbor. It looks like it might be a beech.
I think you’re right about the beech. It made a very grand arbor.
With all the snow on the ground, it was fun to see green grass and flowers. I really was surprised seeing a palm tree growing in London.
That’s why I like to post about trips during the winter. And yes, we were surprised by the palm tree also.
Oh, bummer. We didn’t make it to Kensington Gardens, which is funny because our hotel and our daughter’s flat was very close to it. It looks lovely. Oh well, I’ll just have to take another trip to London. 😉
Seems to me another trip is an absolute necessity.
Very beautiful. The English do gardening the best.
I so want to visit these gardens…such beauty and what a fun trip..thanks for continuing to take us along.
I really enjoyed this post. I was there in 2009, but it was early May and there wasn’t a lot going on. I remember seeing the gardeners there with big skids of annuals, ready to be planted, and going and looking at the tags to see what they all were!