Please note:

The Go Wild Festival ran at Kew and Wakehurst place for the summer of 2003. As such many of the festival features can no longer be seen in the gardens, but this website has been kept to give visitors access to wealth of information developed to support the festival.

Don't forget to check out the latest events in the gardens. Find out more......

Alien invaders!

Many new species arrive in this country each year, brought in accidentally or deliberately.

Most cause no problem at all, but some thrive in our climate and soil and become invasive. Together with habitat destruction, invasive species are the major cause of extinction in our world today.

In Kew the ‘Yellow Perfoliate Alexander’ (Smyrnium perfoliatum) seen in May, is an example of a species that has become naturalised in this area and does rather too well!

	U.K.’S MOST WANTED: RHODODENDRON ponticum JAPANESE KNOTWEED Fallopia japonica GIANT HOGWEED Heracleum mantegazzianum HIMALAYAN or Indian BALSAM Impatiens glandulifera New Zealand Pygmyweed Crassula helmsii
The Alexanders are being removed in an annual habitat restoration programme to prevent them from overwhelming the bluebells and other wildflowers at Kew.

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