November at Kew Gardens and Wakehurst

Christmas at Kew and Glow Wild at Wakehurst offer fantastic festive experiences
Zadok Ben-David: Natural Reserve continues in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art
Kew’s new Botanical Brasserie now open
Coming soon: Orchids 2022, returning to Kew after two years
Horticultural highlights include Kew’s autumnal arboretum and Wakehurst’s Westwood Lake

Kew Gardens

Zadok Ben-David: Natural Reserve

Continuing until March 2022, acclaimed artist and sculptor Zadok Ben-David presents Natural Reserve, a new exhibition at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art. This first solo exhibition by the artist in the UK since 2008 includes Blackfield, a space-specific floor installation containing over 17,000 steel etched flowers assembled entirely by hand. Images available here.

Etched, single flower, hand-painted fluorescent pink and blue — Blackfield single flower by Zadok Ben-David © Soupdemots

The Botanical Brasserie

This November, Kew’s newly refurbished Botanical Brasserie reopens. With a variety of seasonal dishes and signature afternoon tea available alongside a selection of new plant-based menu options, the refreshed Botanical Brasserie offers visitors the perfect spot to relax and recharge as they take in spectacular views of Kew iconic Palm House

Grand, beige building across a large lake — Botanical Brasserie at Kew Gardens, Ellen McHale © RBG Kew

Christmas at Kew

From Wednesday 17 November to Sunday 9 January, Christmas at Kew, a much-loved highlight of London’s festive calendar, returns for its ninth year. This year’s trail features a host of firm seasonal favourites alongside pioneering new light installations, illuminating Kew Gardens’ UNESCO World Heritage landscape with vibrant bursts of colour and over a million twinkling lights. A celebration of nature by night, and the wonder of biodiversity, this is an enchanting seasonal experience like no other, for visitors of all ages. Pre-booking essential. Images available here.

Elegant and Enchanting

Also at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art this November is Elegant and Enchanting, a stunning art exhibition highlighting the plant habitats and stunning flora of Japan, China and Thailand. Featured artists include Asuka Hishiki, Hideo Horikoshi, Mariko Ikeda, Mieko Ishikawa and Kimiyo Maruyama. Curated by Dr Shirley Sherwood OBE, the exhibition highlights these botanically rich countries and their wide range of plant habitats and beautiful flora.

Flowering Cherries: Prunus pendula 'Pendula-rosea' by Mieko Ishikawa — © Flowering Cherries: Prunus pendula 'Pendula-rosea' (2006) Mieko Ishikawa.

Adult Learning Events at Kew

Botanical pen and ink: Beginners | 22^nd- 24^th November | 10.30am – 4pm | Museum No. 1 (opposite Palm House and Pond) | £270 (price includes entry to the gardens and all materials needed)

This three-day course for beginners will teach the basics in the beautiful setting of Kew Gardens. Led by Lucy T Smith, this two-day workshop will explore how to prepare accurate botanical drawings to scale, and how to apply different methods of ink drawing to communicate the essential character of plants clearly and beautifully.

Close up of artist painting a tree on paper — Artist at Kew, Meg Boldison © RBG Kew

Wakehurst

Glow Wild

Across selected evenings from Thursday 25 November 2021 to Sunday 2 January 2022, Glow Wild at Wakehurst offers a truly enchanting winter light trail for visitors to enjoy. As darkness falls, the gardens are brought to life with glowing lanterns, mesmerising projections and glistening fire torches. With a host of record-breaking installations, including the UK’s tallest living Christmas tree adorned with 1,800 lights, this is a unique seasonal experience not to be missed. Images available here.

Workshops at Wakehurst

Forest bathing | 13^th November | 10.30am – 1pm or 2pm – 4.30pm | Wakehurst woodlands (meet at Visitor Centre) | £22.50 (includes day entry to the gardens and car parking)

Lead by Swedish teacher and workshop leader Helena Skoog, this workshop will illuminate the practice of forest bathing, based on the Japanese art of Shinrin-yoku. Wakehurst’s expansive woodlands are the perfect place to reconnect with nature and unwind from the stresses of everyday life during this half day sessions.

Willow deer making workshop | 5^th, 6^th, 19^th & 20^th November | 10.30am – 4pm | Visitor Centre | £89 (includes parking and refreshments)

Workshop leader Martin Brockman will offer a step-by-step guide to weaving willow, coppiced hazel and other materials during this session at Wakehurst. Participants will learn about using a range of natural materials to create sculptures and environmental arts, and will have the opportunity to create a stunning willow deer for their garden.

Christmas wreath making workshop | 26^th, 27^th & 28^th November | 11am – 1pm or 2pm – 4pm | Visitor Centre | £50 (includes entry to the gardens, parking and refreshments of tea, coffee and mince pies)

Brighton-based floral designer Kate Langdale will host this two hour workshop at Wakehurst, where participants are encouraged to get festive, learn a new skill and create their own Christmas wreath using hand-picked foliage from the gardens, including holly, spruce and rosemary.

Horticultural Highlights

Horticultural highlights to enjoy this month at Kew include the ever-changing autumnal hues on display across the stunning arboretum and grass garden. Wakehurst’s Westwood Lake is a must-see for dazzling autumn colour reflected in a mirror image on the water. Images here: https://we.tl/t-Zs6q3UflXt

The colours of autumn are reflected in the lake as a flock of birds fly past — Autumn at Wakehurst, Jim Holden ©RBG Kew

Coming Soon

Orchids 2022

A celebration of Costa Rica, Orchids runs from Saturday 5^th February to Sunday 6^th March 2022 at Kew Gardens. This much-loved festival returns to Kew for the first time since 2020, and will once again see the Princess of Wales Conservatory transformed by a host of vibrant horticultural displays and animated soundscapes, transporting visitors to the tropics of Central America. Highlighting Costa Rica’s unique position as a biodiversity hotspot, the festival looks set to be as spectacular as ever as it makes a welcome return to Kew. Further information is available here.

Orchid festival, Ines Stuart-Davidson © RBG Kew

What we are doing to keep visitors safe

The safety and wellbeing of our visitors is of the utmost importance to us and we are continually monitoring and responding to the Covid-19 pandemic as it evolves. We are adhering to government advice in our planning to ensure visitors and staff remain safe while enjoying Kew and Wakehurst. Safety measures will reflect government advice at the time of visiting and will be clearly communicated across RBG Kew’s channels and onsite.

ENDS

For more information, images, or to unsubscribe from this mailing list, please contact the Press Office at pr@kew.org.

Notes to Editors

About Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a world-famous scientific organisation, internationally respected for its outstanding collections as well as its scientific expertise in plant diversity, conservation and sustainable development in the UK and around the world. Kew Gardens is a major international and a top London visitor attraction. Kew Gardens’ 132 hectares of landscaped gardens, and Wakehurst, Kew’s Wild Botanic Garden, attract over 2.5 million visits every year. Kew Gardens was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site in July 2003 and celebrated its 260th anniversary in 2019. Wakehurst is home to Kew's Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world. RBG Kew receives approximately one third of its funding from Government through the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and research councils. Further funding needed to support RBG Kew’s vital work comes from donors, membership and commercial activity including ticket sales.

About Wakehurst

Please note that Wakehurst is referred to just as Wakehurst, not Wakehurst Place. It is not a National Trust property.

Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex is home to the Millennium Seed Bank and over 500 acres of the world’s plants including temperate woodlands, ornamental gardens and a nature reserve. It is situated in the High Weald of Sussex, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, and focuses on wild plant collections. The Millennium Seed Bank houses and protects seed from the world’s most substantial and diverse collection of threatened and useful wild plants, making it the most biodiverse place on earth.

RBG Kew receives just under half of its funding from Government through the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and research councils. Further funding needed to support Kew’s vital work comes from donors, membership and commercial activity including ticket sales.

In March 2021, RBG Kew launched its 10-year strategy Our Manifesto for Change 2021. The institution’s ultimate goal is step up to help to end the extinction crisis and contribute to creating a world where nature is protected, valued by all and managed sustainably. In the wake of a global pandemic, and with the future of the planet in peril, the strategy represents a public commitment by RBG Kew to do everything in its power to reverse the environmental devastation of biodiversity loss and climate change. The five key priorities are 1) Delivering science-based knowledge and solutions to protect biodiversity and use natural resources sustainably 2) Inspiring people to protect the natural world 3) Training the next generation of experts: 4) Extending our reach 5) Influencing national and international opinion and policy.

On May 25th RBG Kew launched its new Sustainability Strategy – committing to become Climate Positive by 2030 and marking a step-change in our urgent action to tackle the climate and biodiversity crisis.