Kew Gardens Davies Alpine House.

The Davies Alpine House at Kew Gardens: where ‘happy’ is!

I almost cringe at starting this with that phrase ‘in these challenging times ....’, but these are just the times when we need a little ‘happy’!  So I thought it would be nice to share some photos from my recent visit to one of the places that truly brings me joy: the alpine house at Kew Gardens.

I arrived in London on Saturday 1 February for a short and unashamedly self-indulgent garden holiday.  I know: who goes to London to visit gardens in February of all months?, you ask.  Well, that’s a long story.  But let me say that I postponed the trip twice and reached a point where it was February or lose it.  And I’m not the sort of person to be put off by the prospect of a little (?) inclement weather.  I have hundreds of photos of labels, bare branches and snow-covered earth hiding some longed-for treasure that I took braving the ten-degree-below-zero expanse of the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens one January visit (much to the bewilderment of the locals)!  Anyway, to give you some sense of my love of the gardens at Kew, after 24 hours travel, I arrived at 5:30 am in London: at 9:00 am I was in my hotel room; by 11:30 am I was striding through the gates to the gardens.  You’ve got the picture...

So let me take you on a mini tour of some of the treasures on show in February at the Davies Alpine House.

The Davies Alpine House was opened in 2006.  To quote the Gardens’ own website, it is an ‘award-winning structure that combines traditional practice with the latest technology – a glasshouse for the 21^st century’.  The alpine house was designed to ‘recreate the dry, cool, windy conditions that alpines need to thrive, without using energy-intensive air conditioning and wind pumps.  Conceived as two back-to-back arches, the structure creates a stack effect that draws warm air out of the building.  Below ground, air is cooled in a concrete labyrinth and recirculated around the perimeter, while the low-iron glass exterior allows 90% of the light to pass through.’  

The alpine house is not designed for permanent plantings – although it is home to a small collection of crevice-loving plants.  Rather, it is intended to showcase the Gardens’ large collection of alpine plants which are grown elsewhere in the alpine nursery.  Plants are displayed only when they come into bloom.  This ensures that, no matter what time of year you visit, there is always a ‘gourmet feast’ of alpine treasures for the specialist collector and garden lover alike.  (Or, as someone close to me likes to call this kind of spectacular display:  it’s porn for gardeners, guaranteed!)

Davies Alpine House in the rock garden.

The alpine house sits at one end of the extensive rock garden.  One of the oldest and largest in the world, the rock garden spreads across more than an acre.  In my terms, this means easily 3 – 4 hours of ‘oohing and ahhing’, numerous photo stops – for plant and label – and frequent pauses simply to marvel at the wonder of it all.  So when to view the alpine house is always a hard call:  do you save the best for last or gorge yourself on the gems first, and then, dazzled and bloated from the visual feast, stagger around the rock garden in a sort of dazed stupor after?  As this was an ‘unashamedly self-indulgent trip’, I made the greedy choice to start with the feast.  It was the right choice...

View from the entrance at the pond end.

Here’s what awaits.  There’s always a mix of pots on the benches (front right and back left) and others sunken into the gravel, as though naturally growing among the rocks.

Right-hand side, looking. from the pond entrance.

Left-hand side, looking from the pond entrance.

Bergenia emeiensis

Saxifragaceae, Origin:  Southern Central China

No-one who knows me well would believe me if I said this is one I could love!  It’s funny how the plant world continues to be one of constant surprises.  Just when you think you’ve got your list of favourite plants and plant species all figured out, along comes something to shake you to the core.  I started a garden design course recently.  As an introductory exercise, we were asked to share our favourite and hated plants.  When it came to ‘hated’, there are a few that come to mind.  And Bergenia is right up there (with apologies to the global community of Bergenia lovers).  But this visit to the alpine house has turned my world upside down.  What’s not to admire about this?  It’s simply beautiful.  Could it even find a place in my favourites?  Quite possibly!

Primula verticillata

Primulaceae, Origin:  North-East Africa, South-West Arabia

Fortunately, there are some that reaffirm your confidence in the ‘favourite’ choices you make.  The genus Primulaceae never fails to please.  Whether it’s P verticilata (above) or P allioni ‘William Earle’ (below), each of these represents a discovery for me that confirms the place of this genus in my top ten.

Primula allionii ‘William Earle’

Primulaceae, (Origin: P. allionii France, Italy)

Let’s continue this mini tour with a few selected highlights – something for everyone.  (And when I say selected, I won’t tell you how many pictures I took in my two visits to the alpine house!)

Dionysia tapetodes

Primulaceae, Origin: Afghanistan, Iran

Methinks: It’s small enough to put in my lunch box.  Do you think they would miss it?

Galanthus woronowii

Amarylidaceae, Origin:  Caucasus Turkey

Androcymbium hantamense

Colchicaeae, Origin:  South Africa

Anemone coronaria

Ranunculaceae, Origin:  Mediterranean

Bellevalia hyacinthoides

Asparagaceae, Origin:  Greece

Crocus sieberi ‘Hubert Edelsten’

Iridacea

Gymnospermium albertii (syn Leontice albertii)

Berberidaceae, Origin:  Russian Central Asia

Petrocosmea kerrii v. critinita

Gensneriaceae, Origin:  China

This little treasure is one of the few plants that forms part of the permanent collection.  Though it’s not clear from the photo, the plant is tucked in a crevice in the almost-vertical rock wall.  Now if only I could get that happening in my garden!

Lachenalia bowkeri

Hyacinthaceae, Origin: Cape Province

Scilla madeirensis

Asparagaceae, Origin:  Madeira, Selvagens

Of course it’s one thing to get one or two stems of anything to flower in pots on your bench;  it’s another to get a whole forest.  That’s simply showing off!

Which seems just the place to end .... satisfied and basking in the pleasure of so many wonderful treasures; excited by the possibility that some of them might be on show in my garden one day;  and smiling at the opportunity to bring you along to share in one of my truly happy places. 

Footnote:  For most of the trip, the temperature ranged between 12 – 18 degrees, with blue skies or some cloud.  How lucky is that!

All photos © G Stephens