What’s on this January at Kew Gardens and Wakehurst
Release date: 19 December 2022
- When Flowers Dream continues at the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art, must end 5 March
- Horticultural highlights include Kew’s new Winter Mound, full of seasonal interest. Wakehurst’s Winter Garden is at its peak, full of sensory delight.
- Coming soon: Orchids 2023, inspired by the beauty and biodiversity of Cameroon
- New short courses for 2023 include papercraft, propagation and pruning
Kew Gardens
When Flowers Dream
Continuing in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art this December is the debut London exhibition for acclaimed Australian artist Tanya Schultz, known as Pip & Pop. The perfect escape from grey winter days. When Flowers Dream showcases an eclectic, playful and immersive mix of vibrant artworks and a brand-new bespoke installation created especially for Kew Gardens- an imaginary landscape brimming with foods of the future.
Horticultural Highlights
Horticultural highlights on display this month at Kew include the new Winter Mound, full of winter interest and home to over 500 species. Visitors can also enjoy the spectacular Grass Garden before it is cut back at the end of the month. At Wakehurst, the Winter Garden comes is at its peak this season, with an array of colours and textures. Even on rainy days, Wakehurst offers acres of woodlands for families to explore, with plenty of puddles!
Kew Publishing Book of the Month: The Hidden Universe by Alexandre Antonelli
Combining inspirational stories and the latest scientific research, Kew’s Director of Science Alex Antonelli reveals the wonders of biodiversity at a genetic, species and ecosystem level - what it is, how it works, and why it's the most important tool in our battle against climate change.
A deeper understanding of biodiversity has never been more important, as the slow violence of habitat loss has put the fate of almost one-fifth of all species on Earth at risk of extinction in the coming decades. These building blocks of life form a network that underpins almost every aspect of our lives, providing invaluable sources of food, medicine, fibre, clothing, building material and more.
Online Courses from David & Charles
Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and David & Charles have partnered to deliver a selection of new online learning courses, available to enjoy from the comfort of your own home. Courses are delivered through a mix of video tuition and downloadable instructions and include a materials kit to provide established and amateur artists alike with the tools they need to develop their skills. Courses now live include Capturing The Inner Beauty of Flowers in Pen & Ink with Hazel Wilks, Painting Roses in Watercolour with Trevor Waugh, and Botanical Watercolour Vegetables with Rachel Pedder-Smith, the ideal way to start the new year.
Coming Soon: Orchids 2023
Back bigger and better than ever for 2023, Kew Gardens’ much-loved Orchid festival returns to the Princess of Wales Conservatory from Saturday 4 February to Sunday 5 March 2023. Taking inspiration from the beauty and biodiversity of Cameroon, Orchids 2023 is a vibrant celebration of colour to brighten up the winter months, and is the first time Kew’s Orchid festival will celebrate an African nation.
Coming Soon: Short Courses
Why not start the year by signing up for a crafty new short course at Kew? Led by a selection of experts, these one-day courses and workshops offer unique opportunities to develop fresh skills within the stunning surroundings of Kew’s UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Peony paper flower-making workshop | 10th February 2023 | 10.30am- 2pm | Cambridge Cottage
Led by Susan Beech of A Petal Unfolds, this workshop will allow you to will get to work with a range of the finest crepe papers and be guided through some of the techniques of paper flower making. You will leave the class with your own Peony, an instruction booklet and the flower templates, so that you can make a flower bouquet at home.
Pruning | 16th February 2023 | 10.30am- 4pm | Lady Sainsbury Lecture Theatre
Have you ever wondered how to prune your woody plants in the garden? If you answered yes, then this is the course for you! The course will discuss pruning tools, the main pruning groups used when pruning shrubs and practical demonstrations will be carried out to show how to make proper pruning cuts and the type of material to remove on commonly grown species.
Plant propagation | 17th February 2023 | 10.30am – 4pm | Lady Sainsbury Lecture Theatre
Come and learn how to propagate vegetables, shrubs, herbaceous plants, house plants and all types of bedding. This course will provide a helpful introduction to the various methods you can use to increase your plant numbers. We will discuss the time of year when cuttings should be taken or seeds sown, types of pots required and suitable compost to use.
Grow your own mushrooms | 24th February 2023 | Cambridge Cottage
Learn to cultivate your own mushrooms at home, and explore the word-class fungi collections at Kew Gardens. The Caley Bros will take you through the basics of mushroom cultivation and teach you how to care for, store and get the most from your mushroom kit. This workshop is accompanied with a behind-the-scenes, curator led tour of Kew’s Fungarium, home to over 1.25 million dried specimens.
Wakehurst
Nature Heroes | Bird Buddy mission | 11th – 19th February | Book now
Every half term and school holiday, young adventurers will have the opportunity to become a planet-saving Nature Hero, starting with the Bird Buddy mission for February Half Term. Superhero capes are available for purchase, and children can gain an embroidered badge by taking part in an exciting mission. The main trail is accompanied by drop-in activities and bookable workshops.
Exhibitions
Surviving or Thriving: An exhibition on plants and us | Daily, 10am – 3.30pm | Millennium Seed Bank | Included with entry
This exhibition brings Kew’s State of the World’s Plants reports to life, telling the story of why some plants are only surviving, while others are thriving. Through film, audio, models, and a futuristic garden, explore the challenges that plants face and discover the vital role of fungi too.
ENDS
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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 and scientific expertise in plant and fungal diversity, conservation, and sustainable development in the UK and around the globe. Kew’s scientists and partners lead the way in the fight against biodiversity loss and finding nature-based solutions to the climate crisis, aided by five key scientific priorities outlined in Kew’s Science Strategy 2021-2025. Kew Gardens is also a major international and top London visitor attraction. Kew’s 132 hectares of historic, landscaped gardens, and Wakehurst, Kew’s Wild Botanic Garden and ‘living laboratory’, 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 the Millennium Seed Bank, the largest wild plant seed bank in the world and a safeguard against the disastrous effects of climate change and biodiversity loss. RBG Kew received approximately one third of its funding from Government through the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and research councils. Further funding needs to support RBG Kew’s vital scientific and educational work comes from donors, memberships and commercial activity including ticket sales. For tickets, please visit www.kew.org/kew-gardens/visit-kew-gardens/tickets. In the first six months since implementing a new accessibility scheme for those in receipt of Universal Credit, Pension Credit and Legacy Benefits, Kew has welcomed 10,000 visitors with £1 tickets.
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 2021 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.