wild thing

You don’t have to be a green-fingered sort to visit this 300-acre urban oasis in south-west London beside the Thames. A UNESCO World Heritage Site, the gardens are a mass of bountiful blooms and nature’s finest work. First and foremost a scientific institution, it offers soul-soothing respite from the crowds of the capital and transforms into a kaleidoscopic vision with the arrival of spring.

For a bird’s-eye view across the entire area, climb 59ft up into the tree canopy on the 656ft-long Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway for close encounters of birds, insects, lichen and fungi among the crowns of lime, sweet chestnut and oak trees.

Travel through 10 climatic zones in the Princess of Wales Conservatory and get up close and personal with dangling roots of mangrove swamps in the wet tropics zone, towering spikes of echiums and silver agaves from dry tropical regions such as the Canary Islands, and giant waterlily pads within the aquaria section.

For a brush with the tropics, head to the curvaceous and steamy Palm House where you’ll find a cornucopia of plants from Africa and the Indian Ocean Islands, including cocoa, rubber, banana and papaya, alongside the Mexican yam, which was used to develop the contraceptive pill, and fruit trees like mango, starfruit, breadfruit and jackfruit.

Alternatively, the Temperate House — the largest Victorian glasshouse in the world — holds many wood-stemmed plants beneath its ornate exterior, including a Chilean Wine Palm. At nearly 58ft it’s still slowly growing, and is believed to be the world’s tallest glasshouse plant.

www.kew.org