Did you know that it's Afternoon Tea Week from Monday 8th August through to Sunday 14th August? 

What an opportunity to celebrate this great event by simply having afternoon tea!  You could create your own and invite friends round, get the kids to do one or you could treat yourself to an Afternoon Tea out!  These aren't membership experiences or subscription gifts, but they give your loved one the chance to get away from it all and the routine of life and just relax for a couple of hours. 

Visit to Kew Gardens with Prosecco Afternoon Tea
at The Botanical for Two
£110.00

Well, Virgin Experience Days loves Afternoon Tea experiences and they have a huge number to choose from, starting at £24.00.  (That's a Chilli Afternoon Tea for Two with Gourmet Tasting in Bedfordshire, normally £50). 

In fact, you can choose from Afternoon Tea in London, Champagne Afternoon Tea, Traditional Cream Tea, Luxury Afternoon Tea, Unique and Themed Afternoon Tea, (including Peppa Pig tea experiences and also a Kitty Cafe  - you can stroke and talk to cats while having your Afternoon Tea).  For gin lovers, there's Gin Afternoon Teas, or maybe the vegan in you wants to have a Vegan Afternoon Tea?

How about Fortnum & Mason Champagne Afternoon Tea for Two in The Diamond Jubilee Tea Salon?
(Was £172.50, now £120 at the time of writing)

You can combine Afternoon Tea with Doing Something or visiting somewhere, such as having a spa day.  You could go for a walk with an Alpaca, visit a birds of prey centre, trot off to see the animals at the Port Lympne visit sites such as the Royal Albert Hall, the Spinaker Tower in Portsmouth, the Palace of Holyroodhoue in Edinburgh or Windsor Castle.  Maybe you'd like to visit Bletchley Park or get a tour of the Kia Oval Cricket Ground, or head off to The View from the Shard or the London Eye.  Car enthusiasts could take in a Motor Morgan Company Factory Tour, but if you prefer the train, there's the chance to enjoy a tea on a steam train.  There are possibilities around the country!

Visit to Port Lympne Reserve and Afternoon Tea for Two
(Was £90, now £60 at the time of writing)

Anyway, enough of me rambling on!  Head off to Virgin Experience Days and have a look at their range.  And don't forget to have a look at their special offers! 

I love flower shows, so I'm thrilled to just remind you that the RHS Hyde Hall Flower Show takes place from 3rd August to 7th August 2022.

Dig deep for more information here

There are over 60 trade and nursery exhibits to look at, talks and demonstrations in The Potting Shed theatre and plant displays of plants such as cactus and bonsai.  And of course, you can keep yourself well watered and fed as you stroll round enjoying everything.

Don't miss The Secured Garden, created in partnership with the Essex Police.

You can shop for quality plants and get lots of tips and advice from expert nurseries as you take in their displays.  There's even a plant creche to look after your plants!

Craft lovers can be inspired by a mine of designs in the Craft in Focus pop-up marquee.  There are about 25 exhibitors, who constitute a selection fo the UK's finest craftspeople and artists.   If you're a craft lover, you could also pop along to the Craft & Design Fair at RHS Hyde Hall from 26th to 29th August 2022 

Normal garden admission applies if you want to go to the RHS Hyde Hall Flower Show, and you don't need to book to access the show, according to the website.  It's free to RHS members and a guest.

You can buy tickets here - why not treat a loved one to a great day out?  

Become an RHS member here

There’s amazing news from ZSL’s London Zoo! 

Gaysha has given birth to THREE Critically Endangered Sumatran tiger cubs!  They were born on Monday 27^th June and footage on ZSL London Zoo’s hidden ‘cubcam’ shows Gaysha giving birth and then gently cleaning the cubs, and then dad Asim quietly coming to meet his new family. 

These three add to the critically endangered Sumatran tigers 

More about ZSL's work with Sumatran tiger conservation

There are only 300 Sumtran tiger cubs left in the wild so this is a really important event for the species.  ZSL works in two main areas:  the Berbak National Park on the east coast of Sumtra and the Dangku corporate Conservation Complex  which is in the south.  ZSL is undertaking a number of activities there, for it is part of the Sundaland biodiveristy hotspot and has some of the highest rates of deforestation in the archipelago.  Tigers are suffering from conflicts with humans and poaching, both of tigers and their pray.   ZSL has two “Wildlife Conflict and Crime Response Teams” to address key threats to tigers including poaching, illegal trading and other human-wildlife conflict.  You can find out more here

 

The 29th July is Global Tiger Day.  Many conservation organisations highlight the plight of tigers.
Why not adopt a tiger from ZSL as a gift or for yourself?

#WorldTigerDay  #InternationalTigerDay #GlobalTigerDay

Meantime, back in London...

ZSL London Zoo's new Sumatran tiger cubs will be named after they’ve all had their first vaccinations, when they are about 3 months old.  Vets and zookeepers will be able to confirm the sex of each cub then.   Meantime, the zoo staff are giving this very important family a chance to have some peace and privacy and quiet time, and paws crossed, the cubs are doing well.

This week (21 July 2022), Mum Gaysha decided it was warm enough for them to venture outside.  Find out all about it here!

Congratulations to Gaysha and Asim and everyone at ZSL!

By the way, A Summer of Colour is ZSL London Zoo’s celebration of nature's kaleidoscope, and it runs until 31 August 2022.  Find out more and book here

It’s back on our screens!

Kew Gardens:  A Year in Bloom is back on Channel 5 on  Tuesday 19^th July 2022 at 8pm.

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, has two incredible sites. 

The gardens’ website explains that “Plants and fungi are vital to the future of food, clean air and medicine. We’re fighting against biodiversity loss to save life on Earth.”

They cover over 300 acres in south west London, and 535 acres at their Sussex base, Wakehurst.

They are quite amazing, with centre of scientific innovation, historical interest, a tourist attraction and home to an incredible plant collection.

The Channel 5 series follows the staff who look after the plants over the course of a year, and it’s quite a task. Try to imagine evaluating almost 17,000 different plant species in the garden to work out what stays and what goes – that’s Simon’s job, he’s the new Head of Living Collections.  Rather him than me!

Visit the world famous Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
£39.00 for two with Virgin Experience Days

You can discover rare and threatened plants in The Temperate House, the largest Victorian glasshouse
in the world. And there’s the Mediterranean Garden and King William’s Temple. There’s the chance to have a quiet moment in the Japanese Gardens. And there’s the Natural Area, 37 acres of beautiful woodland. Queen Victoria donated the woodland to Kew, with the condition that it remains in a wilder, untamed state.

There are, of course, many other things to see at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and you can get a better idea of what they are by visiting their website.

Wakehurst is in Sussex.  Why not treat a loved one to a day out there?
£29.00 with Virgin Experience Days

At the Wakehurst site, scientists have collected, dried and banked seeds from rare, endangered, endemic, and useful plants.  They can protect these for generations to come.  They have done this working with 260 global partners, and now the seed collection is the largest in the world.  It has 2.4 billion seeds at its Millennium Seed Bank, the largest such bank in the world and they are stored at Wakehurst’s sub-zero, state of the art facility which is underground.  There are some fascinating facts and figures about this seed bank here.

There’s  Bloomers Valley which is a landmark meadow restoration.  There are rich, local grasslands buzzing with insects.  There’s the Rock Walk, which dates back 140 million years.   And the beautiful Bethlehem Wood, which has one of Britain’s greatest collection of birches (Betula), with some of the most critically endangered species. Westwood Valley is home to Wakehurst’s stunning collection of rare rhododendrons

On their website, do keep an eye on Read and Watch and they also do short courses (plus professional ones, and there’s lots for children, too.  They’ve also got online courses, handy if you live nowhere near Kew or Wakehurst.

Now, you could give a gift membership to  the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, and Virgin Experience Days also has a number of experience days which could make a lovely gift for anyone who loves gardens.  Equally, you can escape to Kew Gardens from your sofa with Virtual Kew!

Virgin Experience Days has a number of experiences at Kew Gardens and Wakehurst
Find out more here