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London Kew Gardens Plans Stunning Summer

21st April, 2009

For the summer season the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (RBG Kew) will be filled with festive horticultural plantings, stunning art and sculpture installations and fascinating exhibitions celebrating Kew’s pivotal role as a world-leader in horticulture, plant science and conservation, now and for the next 250 years.

Nigel Taylor, curator of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew says “Our 250th celebrations are well under way and there is a lot on offer at Kew this summer; from enjoying the beauty of the gardens in their full bloom, to taking in an inspiring exhibition, or exploring behind the scenes on an all access tour. There’s never been a better time to visit Kew!”

More than just a garden…

Greeting visitors at the Victoria Plaza entrance a global map installation celebrates the reach of RBG Kew across the world, highlighting its global conservation work. At RBG Kew there are over 200 scientists working with more than 800 partner organisations in over 100 countries. Since its beginnings 250 years ago Kew has always had an international presence, collecting and conserving plants; from the plant hunting days of Joseph Banks, Darwin and Livingstone to the modern day seed collectors from Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership which safeguards over 1.5 billion seeds from 10 % of the world’s wild flowering plant species. Two new beds surrounding the map will be filled with a global floral spectacular of colourful plants from families and genera representing the continents of the world, such as Agapanthus from South Africa, Dahlia from Mexico and Humulus (golden hops) from Europe.

Celebrate with roses…..

Kew is working with David Austin Roses to re-plant the rose garden behind the Palm House to its original design by William Nesfield. Dating back to 1848, RBG Kew’s horticultural experts are excited about bringing a part of Kew’s rich landscape heritage back to life. Nesfield was one of the famous landscapers whose influence on Kew shaped how the Gardens look today. The new rose garden will feature ‘Rosa’ Kew Gardens, a celebratory rose for Kew’s 250th anniversary which is thornless with eye-catching white-and-yellow flowers which are produced almost continuously from early summer through to the end of the season.This rose will be for sale in the Kew Gardens’ shop from October.

Enjoy wildflowers and buzzing bees…

From late April the beauty of UK native flowers is revealed at the Main Gate, highlighting the importance of plant conservation on our own doorstep. The display will include British orchids and other wildflowers such as the reintroduction of a Thames Valley native – wild clary (Salvia verbenacea). The orchids will be grown in a similar habitat to the wild. Two bee hives in the wild flower display and a bee discovery centre in Climbers & Creepers will help visitors learn more about the important role of bees in the natural environment. These are sponsored by Jordans cereals who have partnered with RBG Kew to launch The Big Buzz, a national campaign to increase bee-friendly habitats in the UK.

Investigate Seeds...

4 April – 13 September, Nash Conservatory

Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) partnership is celebrated with Banking on Life. The exhibition tells the story of the first 10 years of Kew’s MSB partnership with a mix of stunning art installations by sculptor Tony Gibas and visual artist Rob Kesseler plus interactive displays, photography and inspiring stories. It promises to be one of the highlights of Kew’s 250th anniversary year – also the year in which Kew’s MSB partnership smashes its target of collecting and banking seeds from 10 per cent (c 30,000 species) of the world’s wild flowering plant species.

For more information see www.kew.org/press/MSBexhibition.html

Walk among Seeds…

4 April into 2010

Visual artist Tom Hare, known for his greenwood woven willow sculptures, is creating a 'Seed Walk' of outsize seed sculptures lining the mini-Broadwalk at Main Gate (outside the Nash Conservatory). Celebrating Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank partnership, seeds featured include coco de mer, a conker and a lotus seed head. The huge sculptures are four metres high and five metres wide and set against tropical display beds planted specially for the anniversary. Ten sculptures are being commissioned, of which five – star anise, horse chestnut, poppies, devil’s claw and Banksia – will be installed for the opening of the Banking of Life exhibition. A further five – lotus, honesty, Sophora, sycamore and coco de mer – will be crafted on site over the summer. Workshops for the later installations will give visitors the chance to help weave the sculptures. The first workshop takes place over the May bank holiday weekend (2 and 3 May).

For more information see www.kew.org/press/MSBexhibition.html

Explore behind the scenes…

Sign up for a special 250th anniversary tours with Kew’s volunteer guides. Throughout the anniversary year an ambitious programme of tours give visitors the unique opportunity to see the vital work that goes on behind-the-scenes. See the historic plant nurseries in the Melon Yard and explore the high-tech laboratories of the Jodrell, home to cutting edge plant science and freezers holding plant DNA. Take in the vast collections of plant specimens, illustrations and historic documents and letters in the Herbarium, Library, Arts and Archives. Investigate the Economic Botany collection – the largest of its kind in the world – and a tangible record of Kew's 250 years of history. For more details see www.kew.org/education/toursfestival.html

Taking the 250th beyond Kew’s walls…

RBG, Kew takes its 250th anniversary celebrations beyond its walls with a lecture series at some of the UK’s most distinguished institutions. Dr Paul Smith, head of Kew’s Millennium Seed Bank (MSB) partnership, kicks off the series on Saturday 18 April at the Science Museum. At a time when plants have never been more important to human welfare, Dr Smith will talk about how the role of Kew’s MSB partnership is to provide more than just an insurance policy for the world’s wild plants. Helping protect livelihoods of some of the world’s poorest people and repairing and restoring damaged vegetation is at the heart of the next ten years of Kew’s MSB partnership.

18 April, 2pmScienceMuseum / Tickets are £5 / Booking: Call 08708 704 868

For more information see www.kew.org/events/250-lectures.html

Learn about the Power of Plants….

Now until 26 July, The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art

RBG Kew’s 200,000 strong botanical art collection includes representations of hundreds of plants of economic value from all over the world. The Power of Plants exhibition brings together historic and contemporary paintings from this collection to celebrate plants that are essential to human well-being for health, food and textiles. Paintings by artists such as Ferdinand Bauer, Georg Dionysius Ehret and Marianne North feature, as well as illustrations from the ‘Company School’, the often unnamed Indian artists commissioned by the merchants and officials of the East India Company. Visitors can also see some of the plants featured in the paintings in the summer bedding display in the Palm House Parterre. RBG Kew’s volunteer guides are hosting free hour’s tour celebrating The Power of Plants.

Investigate the evolution of plants…

August – December, The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art

Art meets science in ‘The Art of Plant Evolution’ (August – December) an exhibition of botanical paintings from the Shirley Sherwood Collection, arranged in the latest evolutionary sequence, determined by recent DNA analysis. Not only is botanical art undergoing a renaissance today but recent genetic discoveries have changed the nomenclature and evolutionary sequence of many plants during the last ten years.

Admire the beauty of gardens through the lens…

22 May to end September 2009

See the winning entries in the third International Garden Photographer of the Year competition on display in an outdoor exhibition located near the Pavilion Restaurant. Visitors will be able to view the very best photographs in the categories Wildlife in the Garden, Plant Portraits, Garden Views, People in the Garden, The Edible Garden, Trees and World Botanic Gardens – a new category introduced for 2009 to mark RBG Kew’s 250th anniversary. Go to www.igpoty.com for more details.

An Indian summer ….

2 May – 28 September

In a unique collaboration, the British Museum and RBG Kew, create an Indian-themed landscape on the Museum’s forecourt. The Landscape takes visitors on a journey spanning the mountainous environment of the Himalayas, represented by a dramatic rock garden; through temperate woodland and ending with a sub-tropical zone centred on a pool filled with lotus flowers (Nelumbo). The Landscape highlights the significance of plants used in Indian culture – as food, medicine and in trade, and the way plants such as chilli (native to South America) have travelled and become completely indigenous. Indian Landscape follows on from the successful China Landscape created in 2008, and is the second of five planned partnerships. The British Museum also celebrates a milestone this year, as it first opened its doors 250 years ago. British Museum Forecourt, Admission free, Sponsored by HSBC.

All of which sounds bloomin marvellous.

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