Go behind the scenes with Kew blogs
Keep up to date with what's happening at Kew, including updates from the teams working in the gardens, and our science and conservation teams working in the UK and around the world. Browse the latest posts below, or use the drop down list to visit your favourite blog for the latest news.
Kew's blackout trees
By: Anthony Hall - 20 Feb 2013During the blackout in the Second World War, the edges of kerbs and some kerbside trees around Kew were painted white to help drivers find their way. Over sixty years later some trees on the Kew road still show traces of that time!
- 39 likes
- 6 comments
Photographing the winter garden
By: Philip Smith - 13 Feb 2013IGPOTY director Philip Smith is inspired by the colours and textures in the winter garden and suggests some tips and techniques to help you get the best from your chilly images
- 6 likes
- 1 comment
Conserving portraits of Kew botanists
By: Emma Le Cornu - 11 Feb 2013Discover the fascinating conservation work which has recently taken place on pastel portraits from Kew's Illustrations collection.
- 23 likes
- 1 comment
Food for when all else fails - collect from the wild or cultivate?
By: Tim Harris - 11 Feb 2013A successful yam cultivation project in Madagascar cannot keep up with demand for cultivated yams.
- 10 likes
- 0 comments
Exploring new frontiers!
By: Helen Hartley - 04 Feb 2013The Director's Correspondence Digitisation Team is embarking on a new project. Join us as we journey back in time to 19th Century North America to uncover more tales of exploration, discovery and tragedy.
- 30 likes
- 2 comments
First flowering at Kew for Critically Endangered Montserrat orchid
By: Marcella Corcoran - 30 Jan 2013Dust-like seeds of the orchid Epidendrum montserratense, collected on the Caribbean island of Montserrat, have been germinated and cultivated in carefully controlled conditions at Kew, to produce the first flowers of this species to be seen in the UK.
- 23 likes
- 1 comment
Observations on a strange vegetable - the snake gourd
By: Wolfgang Stuppy - 25 Jan 2013He may be a Seed Morphologist but Wolfgang Stuppy of Kew's Millennium Seed Bank discovers there is more to the snake gourd than just some strange fruit and eccentric seeds.
- 43 likes
- 9 comments
Introducing the (not quite) new Assistant Archivist
By: Lorna Cahill - 24 Jan 2013Meet Kew's new Assistant Archivist, Lorna, and learn about the volunteering projects she manages and how she began her own career volunteering in Kew's Archives
- 17 likes
- 2 comments
Snowy Kew
By: Anthony Hall - 24 Jan 2013It may not have made it in time for Christmas but the snow arrived at Kew over the weekend, turning it into a winter wonderland.
- 21 likes
- 3 comments
Driving home for Christmas?
By: Joanne Yeomans - 21 Dec 2012Discover Marianne North’s travels over Christmases long, long ago
- 12 likes
- 0 comments
Follow Kew
Keep up to date with events and news from Kew
Kew news
Elderflower surprise
10 Jun 2013
Scientists at Kew Gardens have discovered compounds new to science in ordinary elderflower drinks.
Speciation systems on Lord Howe Island
06 Jun 2013
Lord Howe Island provides evidence in plants for the ‘syngameon hypothesis’ of adaptive evolution.
Olympic rings spectacular unveiled
18 Apr 2012
A floral spectacular is in bloom in front of the Orangery at Kew Gardens to celebrate the London 2012 Olympic Games.
David Attenborough's Kingdom of Plants 3D now available on DVD and Blu-ray
13 Mar 2012
Filmed over the course of a year at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Kingdom of Plants 3D provides a fascinating new look at plant life using stunning 3D time-lapse filming techniques. Own your personal copy today following the DVD and Blu-ray release.
Recent comments
Would you like to work at the Millennium Seed Bank?: I want working in Kew...its my dream.. by: Tibor
The beginnings of Missouri Botanical Garden: Thank you for your comment John. Before writing the blog I read a little about Henry Shaw's early li ... by: directors' correspondence team
The beginnings of Missouri Botanical Garden: Your piece omits to mention that Henry Shaw was born in Sheffield, England. It is interesting to spe ... by: John Edmondson
