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Kew Gardens re-opens huge greenhouse

 

London's famed Kew Gardens has a new but quite old attraction, with the re-opening yesterday of its Temperate House, the world's largest Victorian glass greenhouse. 

The building, whose first section opened in 1860, has been undergoing work for five years, with thousands of plants moved or replanted, 15,000 panes of glass replaced and 69,000 sections metal, wood and stone repaired or replaced. Total cost: about $55 million dollars.

The renovated building is much brighter due to the new glass, and plants are said to be responding with rapid growth. Not all the plants made it back; palms that had grown to threaten the roof have been replaced with younger specimens, while other plants that once had to be kept indoors were relocated outdoors due to changing climate.

One that's back and thriving is unique. Literally. It is a plant that arrived at Kew in 1899 from South Africa, and is now believed to be extinct in the wild. Kew has the only sample in Europe.

The best part of every trip is realizing that it has upset your expectations

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