Christmas at Kew

Deck the halls, hang up the mistletoe and string up those lights. Christmas season is here everybody, and we here at The Amazing Blog, clearly, couldn’t be more excited. More excitingly, Christmas is coming early to Kew, running from 22 November to 1 January.

The Kew Christmas festivities take place after dark, once the gardens have closed. The magical after dark experience brings you fairy-tale and fantasy. Wander down the one-mile long trail that winds through the gardens, as you are surrounded by illuminating and singing trees, giant baubles, buildings that boast over one million twinkling lights, a flickering Fire Garden. The Palm House lights up with a dazzling show of laser beams, jets of light and kaleidoscopic projections. It really is a sight to behold!

In addition to the mystical outdoor trail, there is festive food and drink on offer. Sipping some mulled wine, hot chocolate or spiced cider, and toasting marshmallows around the fire is the perfect way to warm your cockles in the winter chill. Fancy picking up some Christmas gifts? There is a wonderful selection of gifts and stocking fillers in Kew’s shops. The children even get a chance to meet Father Christmas and his elves next to the magical vintage fairground. It is the perfect event for all ages, to get you into the Christmas spirit and we can’t wait to bask in the festivities.

Book tickets here for £16, or £10 for children.

The Handmade Kew 2016

Following last year’s success as the Handmade event was a sell-out, this year, in Britain it will return to Kew Gardens for the second edition of the Handmade at Kew. Here at the Amazing Blog we love to explore and celebrate Britain for its contemporary arts and crafts and this event will definitely be in our list to go.

This is an international modern craft’s event from the 6th to 9th October, this event offers visitors the opportunity to meet and buy from over 200 designers and makers in the arts and crafts industry. This handmade event has a variety of ceramics, jewellery, fashion and textiles, glass, paper, furniture, metalwork, sculpture and interior accessories.  

Over several days, the picturesque gardens at Kew will give the public a chance to explore the exceptional innovative British and international craftsmanship for both fashion and interiors. This is an amazing experience for the public to understand the culture and collect unique, valuable products and to invest in collections.

The day is full of beautiful views as you are surrounded by an elegant pavilion next to Kew Palace, you can enjoy the gardens and crafts to the full. It’s truly an exceptional day and a really great shopping experience for a family outing. It gives you the opportunity to browse, speak to the maker directly and also listen to the production of the exquisite work of some the world’s most talented craftspeople, also get inspiration and learn facts about this impressive industry. It is way more than a shopping day out.

If you would like to enjoy a great day at The Handmade Kew 2016, tickets are available to purchase here for £16.00 including the full entry to the Kew Gardens.

Kew the Music at Kew Gardens

Summer is in full swing and with it a plethora of music concerts and festivals. Here at The Amazing Blog we can’t wait to head down to one of our favourites, Kew the Music at Kew Gardens, this weekend.

Kew the Music, a series of festival style concerts, returns for its sixth year with a truly fantastic line up of artists.

Tonight Jools Holland and his Rhythm & Blues Orchestra hit the stage, promising another crowd pleasing show. Jools has been touring with his veritable musical army, the Rhythm & Blues Orchestra for more than 20 years and once again he will be joined by regular guest vocalists Ruby Turner, Louise Marshall and Mabel Ray.

Saturday UB40 featuring Ali, Astro & Mickey take to the stage. UB40 are undoubtedly Britain’s most popular reggae artists and have clocked up more than 70 million record sales worldwide with songs like Kingston Town, Red Red Wine, I Got You Babe (recorded with Chrissie Hynde of The Pretenders), Rat In The Kitchen and Can’t Help Falling In Love. The bands initial line up lasted 30 years from the bands formation in 1978 until front-man Ali Campbell’s departure in 2008. Two other founding members of UB40 also left the band and have since formed UB40 featuring Ali, Astro and Mickey - back together at last.

Finally, legendary band The Specials close the 2015 Kew the Music festival on Sunday. Known for their unique up beat blend of two-tone and ska, they are guaranteed to have the Kew the Music audience on their feet and singing along to songs such as Too Much Too Young and Ghost Town.

Guests are welcome to bring their own food and drink, or to sample from the line-up of artisan bars and food stalls on site. For the very first time these concerts are a collaboration between Kew Gardens, Kilimanjaro Live Ltd and Raymond Gubbay Ltd. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew have been presenting summer concerts for 33 years.

Tickets start from £41.50 and can be purchased from the 24 hour ticket hotline: 0844 871 8803 or online.

James Wong's Homegrown Revolution

Gardening is something my mum's always been interested in; when I was a little girl she would spend two Sundays a month looking after her plants and our neighbours' too. I've never been too fussed about plants and gardening - the only thing I know for sure about the subject is that sunflowers are my favourite plant and that if I could, I'd love to grow strawberries in my imaginary backyard. When I came across with James Wong's Homegrown Revolution, I decided to give the whole gardening world a go; as I was sure it wasn't as boring as I pictured it in my head. The popularity of "growing your own" has never been higher, but strangely the actual production seems to be stuck in time; with spuds, swedes and sprouts as the classic choices. None of the gardening books or allotment starter kits suggest growing much that isn't available in the same quality and at a far cheaper price in the supermarkets. James Wong suggests us to grow and fill our gardens with exciting things, such as fruit and veg that cost a fortune in the shops but that we can grow easily and in our unpredictable English climate.

James Wong has spent the last two years growing 120 edibles in his own garden, without the help of greenhouses or propagators. The experiment took place during two of the poorest summers and harshest winters on record, yet most of the crops were far easier to grow and gave much higher yields than traditional fare. All the edibles tested in the book have been double-tested personally by James and can be grown in any garden with great success.

James Wong's Homegrown Revolution features instructions on planting, care, harvesting and eating. It also contains Jame's 10 Commandments for the maximum yield with the minimum work recipe ideas for many of the fruit and veg featured. At The Amazing Blog we've enjoyed very much James Wong's book - gardening lovers will love it and people like me who don't really mind about it will find it interesting for sure.

James Wong's Homegrown Revolution is published in hardback by Weidenfeld & Nicolson and it retails at £20, the ebook at £10.99.

Kew Diffusers and Candles

As one of London’s lushest settings (and a personal favourite destination to spend summer weekends), The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew are a not so Secret Garden and one of the world’s leading botanic gardens. Luckily for us,  we can now capture our lazy walks around Kews beautiful gardens thanks to these Luxury diffusers and candles which have been created by Kews's botanical team to recreate the natural and exotic scents of the garden for people to enjoy in their homes.

With a whole host of authentic scents including Orange Blossom, Sweet Pea, Lemongrass and Watermelon the diffusers  are able to fragrance your home for up to 12 weeks. Simply open the bottle, insert the wooden wicks and the scented oil will slowly evaporate into the atmosphere to give a natural, lasting scent. Alternatively, try one of their naturally derived, pure soya wax candles which have Royal Botanic Gardens approval and allow for up 60 hours of fragrance. All of the candles are hand-poured into a recycled glass holder decorated in a Kew Gardens Jacquard Pattern, so would make a great housewarming gift. Alternatively, pair them with one of the diffusers to create your very own personalised aroma for your home.

The Diffusers and Candles are available to buy online here. Luxury Kew Diffusers - £19.50 Luxury Kew Scented Candles- £12.75