Auburn University Public Horticulture: Day Six

Our first day in London had us headed to Hampton Court Palace, home to the infamous Henry VIII. We had access to both the house and the garden, and while the garden was beautiful, I spent most of the time in the house. We wandered from chamber to chamber "oohing" and "ahhing" over the elaborate living quarters, drooling over the chocolate room and just impressed overall at how extensive everything was. There were scratch and sniff maps that guided you through the rooms and gave you a waft of what you would've expected the room to smell like back then. While the dining hall may have been delectable, the bathroom scent was equally distasteful.

Out in the garden, there were large trees well shaped and maintained, then off to the side of the house a large formal garden and several small themed gardens. We also got a glimpse of the largest grape vine in the world (even setting a Guinness record).

Selfie attempt.

The rest of the day was spent at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, also known as Kew Gardens. Opening in 1759, Kew is 255 years old and one of the most popular attractions around London. Sitting on close to 300 acres, it holds the largest living plants collection in the world. That made for a lot to see in a short amount of time. Essentially everyone grabbed their map, located their "must see" spots and took off. One thing we could unfortunately check off was the conservatory, which was closed for renovations. My list included the Tree Canopy Walk, redwood forest collection, the azalea trail and Kew Palace. Of course, with such a large garden there was plenty to see between the walks from one location to the next. While I can't admit Kew to have been my favorite garden, I was impressed by the number of guests visiting, the shear size of the place and all of the trees that were so huge!