[Umbrian]

I shall be in London for three days from Thursday,27th October. Which one garden or place of interest connected to gardening should I attempt to visit!

[Alisdair]

I'm sure you've been to Kew Gardens, Carole, but if not that's top of the list.
If you've not been there before, the Chelsea Physic Garden is interesting, especially as its unusual city-centre Thames-side microclimate allows it to grow a lot of mediterranean-climate plants. And they usually have their own seeds for sale, some of which are interesting (our Koelreuteria paniculata mother tree in France, which now has offspring elsewhere in Europe, came from seed from their fine old tree, one of the first to be grown in Europe).
If you want to immerse yourself in gardening books and magazines, the best place is the Lindley Library of the Royal Horticultural Society.
Helena and I are an hour by train from Charing Cross, and you'd be very welcome, but it would be more a matter of us enjoying your visit as our garden's looking rather bedraggled now! (Some pretty autumn colour though, and two dozen different sorts of pumpkin/winter squash, as well as quite a few different chilli varieties.)

[Umbrian]

Many thanks Alisdair, yes I have been to Kew but the Chelsea Physic Garden never despite hearing lots about it especially from Alison who "works" there I believe. Will make that the priority but your invite is very tempting.......how nice it is to have friends made through a common interest in gardening.

[Umbrian]

Thanks to Alisdair's suggestion I visited the Chelsea Physic Garden whilst in London and can recommend it to any members seeking an hour or two of peacefull reflection. It is a beautifully cared for and has a wealth of interesting plants to drool over all efficiently labelled. I particularly enjoyed the Salvia area where S guaranitica and S longistyla were in full bloom. Reinforcing my belief that gardening is a most sociable interest to have - on entering the garden the first person I saw was a fellow member of the MGS with whom I had shared two holidays in recent years. 

[John]

Was it Jenny?
Sorry Carole but with a bit of notice we could have taken you to Kew. Only just seen this thread. Still seems like you were fine and saw somewhere you hadn't been before.

[Umbrian]

Brief visit to UK to attend a funeral had to be extended due to flights being full hence our 3 day stay in London and the lateness of my enquiry.
At last I can say "Wrong" or "No" to you (re Jenny?) I am never clever enough to know the answers to your cryptic photos! It was Cathy Davey who was in Catalonia earlier this year and who was also on a trip to Sicily several years ago.
It would have been wonderful to visit Kew with an expert, perhaps another time? As I said though the visit to the Physic garden was very worth while and somewhere I had never got round to visiting. Thanks John.