Albert's Greenhouse

The last stop on our conservatory tour of Kew is the Princess of Wales Conservatory. Covering an area larger than the Palm House, yet seeming quite modest from the outside, this very modern building is an exercise in design for energy conservation. The climate control is all computerized, and as you walk through the 10 different climate zones ( some are just little rooms ), you can hear the vents opening and closing to almost passively keep the temperature in a good range.

There's a desert environment, a fernery, a high altitude section, and a large tropical area. When we visited, they had a huge Amorphophallus titanum on display, along with a revolving selection of orchids in flower.



One more thing we noticed on our visit was that some of the maintenance staff was dealing with an overgrown tree ... and on closer inspection, we recognized a couple of them from the television show. They very kindly took a little time out of their day to pose for a picture with us.


This conservatory was perhaps my favorite - although I was really happy to finally walk the aisles of the famous and historic Palm House and Temperate House, the plant displays in the Princess of Wales Conservatory were perhaps more interesting for me. The layout of the many different environments meant that you saw something new past each bend in the path and over each hill, and the stunning variety of plant life from different climates kept my interest from beginning to end.

The waterlily house, which is the only other functioning public conservatory at Kew right now, was closed for the winter ... in the summer it houses Victoria waterlilies and other plants that like ultra-hot tropical conditions. It shares a heating system with the Palm House that's next to it. Hopefully, I'll get a chance to visit when it's open.