Kew Gardens is famous round the world. Its magnificent palm house is an unsurpassed marvel of glass and cast iron architecture, home to tender trees from un-British climates such as Brazil and Madagascar. Its pagoda is more than 130ft high, the tallest and arguably the earliest tribute to Chinese gardens in Europe. Its herbarium of dried and pressed plants is an international wonder, spanning centuries of collected material, which has now jumped into unexpected life thanks to our new understanding of genetics where DNA can be recovered from dried leaves and flowers even when the original plant has become extinct in nature.
When did Kew's own past begin? 2009 is being billed as the 250th anniversary and will be celebrated in February by an enhanced version of the Tropical Extravaganza, Kew's tropical flower and orchid festival, and in August through a photography competition for all comers, who can submit their pictures of any botanical garden in the world. Kew will also be delivering a Darwin Treasure Chest to every primary school in the UK as part of an even bigger project called the Great Plant Hunt, which wants "to help children explore the natural world around them". Tobacco and poppy-juice are not included.
