Chihuly at Kew

Kew Gardens is a UNESCO World Heritage site and, as its website tells us, home to the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections in the world.”

I’ve been visiting Kew Gardens since my early childhood, when you put a penny in the turnstile to get in. These days it costs a great deal more, but I’m lucky because my friends Di and John are members and can take me in as a guest. At present Kew is hosting an exhibit of works of Dale Chihuly, most of which have never been seen before in the U.K. We took advantage of what was forecast to be the only dry day of the weekend, to visit.

Chihuly’s work is always stunning and inspirational to see, and Kew (in my opinion) is the perfect place to show it. The organic design of his magnificent glass sculptures is in harmony with the various plantings and landscapes. The installations are outside, dotted around in the grounds, and inside in the Temperate House and the Waterlily House. The Temperate House (the largest surviving Victorian glass structure, in the world) will be permanent home to a new, specially designed sculpture.Read more