Kew Gardens turn 250
  • Kew Palace was originally bought by George III in 1781 as a nursery for royal children and was called Dutch House. Other buildings have a more controversial history: in 1913 two Suffragettes burnt down the famous Tea House.
  • The gardens grew haphazardly until collector Francis Masson extended and planned plantings. By 1840 the gardens were adopted as a national botanical garden.
  • Almost two million people visit Kew each year giving the gardens an annual income of £56 million. In 2005 visitors tipped 1.5 million, which was the most the garden had seen in 50 years and the largest amount for any paid entry garden in the UK.
  • Visitors can stroll across the treetop walkway, which opened in May 2008. At 18m high and 200m long it takes people through the tree canopy for a unique insight into the gardens.
  • Over the Christmas period, an outdoor ice-rink is erected outside Kew’s Temperate House – the world's largest surviving Victorian glass structure and one of several giant greenhouses on the grounds.
  • Despite unfavourable growing conditions such as low rainfall Kew boasts more than seven million types of herb specimens and has one of the most comprehensive plant collections in Britain, as well as two out-stations in Sussex and Kent.
  • The water lily house is the hottest and most humid of all the houses at Kew and contains a large pond with varieties of water lily, surrounded by a display of economically important heat-loving plants.
  • Kew has the largest compost heap in the world, made from green waste from the gardens and the waste from the stables of the Household Calvary. The compost is mainly used in the gardens but has been auctioned to help fund raise for the gardens.
  • From compost to eye catching plants Kew Gardens has many more hidden attractions such as a Japanese wooden Minka house, built in 2001 to celebrate the Japanese festival, a giant pagoda, as well as bamboo, rose and bonzai collections.
  • To celebrate its 250th anniversary, Kew has staged a Tropical Extravaganza from 7 February to 8 March 2009.
  • As its centerpiece, the Princess of Wales Conservatory brimmed with thousands of orchids and tropical flowers such as bromeliads and anthuriums.
  • Jules Hayward helped to prepare the spectacular visual feast, which also featured giant red celebratory ribbons.
  • Kew is also home to an array of wildlife, including badgers, bats, foxes, more than a hundred species of birds and this Chinese Water Dragon.

Kew Gardens turn 250

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Kew Gardens turn 250

As the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew celebrates its 250th birthday, we take a look at some of the splendours the tourist attraction has to offer.

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