After a complex £41 million restoration, the glittering jewel in Kew’s crown, Temperate House, will emerge, on May 5, from enough scaffolding to stretch the length of the M25.
The Grade I-listed building was designed in 1859 by Decimus Burton, whose other illustrious London works include Hyde Park Corner, Wellington Arch, the Athenaeum Club and terraces overlooking Regent’s Park. Funded with some £15 million from the National Lottery, plus other donors, vital work to the world’s largest Victorian glasshouse, twice the size of Kew’s Palm House, has kept it closed to the public for the past five years.
As well as repair or replacement for some 69,000 items within the building, not including the 15,000 new panes of glass and a repaint that required 5,280 litres of the stuff, there is a series of new water features and Temperate House has been thoroughly modernised, to be reinstated as a sanctuary for the most exotic, rare and threatened plants from temperate regions across the globe, including the Mediterranean, Africa, Australia, New Zealand, South and Central America and Asia.
During the works, some 500 plants were temporarily re-housed and, since September 2017, Kew’s leading horticulturalists have been propagating many of the 10,000 new plants now in situ. The extraordinary species include Dombeya mauritiana, almost extinct in the wild until Carlos Magdalena, Kew’s ‘plant messiah’, found one growing in the Mauritian highlands – Kew is now the only place in the world with this tree in cultivation.
‘The Temperate House will be for everyone,’ explains Richard Barley, director of horticulture at RBG Kew. ‘From young to old, for budding gardeners or aspiring artists, for those making a pilgrimage from great distances, and for our local community, we hope every visitor will see plants in a new light. And what a light it will be – when our first visitors swing open the doors, they will find these plants encased in a glistening cathedral, the new glass allowing the sun to stream in, the ironwork restored to its glossy best.’
Celebratory summer events include Cirque Bijou, an aerial performance to live music inspired by the Temperate House’s magnificent structure, and interactive plant tours for families with Gnomus, a larger-than-life puppet.
Tunnel vision: Fabulous floral arches to delight the senses
Garden designer Anthony Noel extols the virtues of floral arches that delight the senses.
The Soho Farmhouse effect on Great Tew
Much ado about Great Tew.
Credit: Grosvenor Square (Pic: Alamy)
Dream homes in London's garden squares: The capital city's miniature rural idylls
-
David Beckham and Tom Parker Bowles whip up one of the guest editor's favourite childhood mealsFrom Sunday roasts to Spanish delicacies, good food is one of the pillars of Sir David Beckham’s life, as Tom Parker Bowles discovers when the pair cook up a comfort-food storm at Claridge’s.
-
'One of the truly great gardens of the world' is at risk of having its vistas and tranquility blighted foreverThe views from Rousham, the birthplace of the English landscape-garden movement are at risk of development plans for the nearby former RAF Upper Heyford Air Force base get the go-ahead.
-
'One of the truly great gardens of the world' is at risk of having its vistas and tranquility blighted forever
The views from Rousham, the birthplace of the English landscape-garden movement are at risk of development plans for the nearby former RAF Upper Heyford Air Force base get the go-ahead.
-
How Harper Beckham created the perfect gardener's birthday present for her father's 50th — with a little help from David Austin RosesWhen Harper Beckham wanted to commission a rose for her father’s birthday, there was only one man for the job, says Charles Quest-Ritson, as he takes a closer look at the science behind creating a new David Austin bloom.
-
'You could walk round it every day and always notice something new': A private tour of the garden of multiple Chelsea gold medallist John MasseyInspired by his friends Christopher Lloyd and Princess Greta Sturdza, nurseryman and plant breeder John Massey has made a garden in Worcestershire that never ceases to delight, writes Charles Quest-Ritson. Photographs by Clive Nichols
-
Alan Titchmarsh: 15 years ago we planted a hedge — today, it's 10ft tall, 6ft deep and a joy throughout the year. Here's how we did it15 years ago, Alan Titchmarsh planted a hedge; today, it's 10ft tall, 6ft deep, he and his wife absolutely love it, 'and so do all the creatures with whom we share our garden.'
-
The one website about trees and shrubs that everyone needs to know about'Trees and Shrubs Hardy in the British Isles' has been digitised, making one of gardening's most important works free and at your fingertips.
-
'Nature's loo roll': Verbascum, one of the most curious — and useful — plants you'll find in an English country gardenWith its ability to rouge cheeks, settle stomachs and operate as Nature’s loo roll, verbascum is as surprisingly useful as it is pretty, discovers Ian Morton.
-
'There is only a handful of fruit trees I’d grow for their non-edible charms — quince is one'A versatile fruit that's superb in jams and with booze, quince also doesn't make you work too hard for all that pleasure.
-
Everything you could ever want to know about growing, eating and cooking plumsMirabelles, gages, plums, damsons — the best ones to buy, the ones to avoid, and how to use them. Charles Quest-Ritson has you covered.
