Fall colors at Kew

Yes, it is a great place to visit. When we were in London for 3 weeks last May, we went three times.

Kew is having an Autumn Colours Festival October 7-29 this year:

http://www.kew.org/about-our-organisation/press-media/press-releases/autumn-at-kew-gardens

I suggest you aim toward the end of October, as it appears from posts on TripAdvisor that the color show has been getting later. ( Although most of it is controlled byndaylength and the actual weather mainly affects the quality of the show).

When googling for information, note that in the U.K. they use "Autumn" and do not recognize the word "fall".

Also note that the dominant color of the trees there is gold; there are fewer native red-leaved trees than we have in the US. But of course people have planted trees with good autumn reds like red maple and sweet gum.

That is because in English, the four seasons are called Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter.
I googled "Autumn in Kew" and got a few hits, including this on the official Kew Gardens website: http://www.kew.org/about-our-organisation/press-media/press-releases/autumn-at-kew-gardens
And this: http://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/autumn-photography-masterclass

Autumn usually starts mid-September, and runs to mid-November. It is earlier the further north you get, and in the last few years the first two weeks in September have been increasingly summery. This is called an "Indian Summer", not sure why.

Chris---the term Indian Summer technically refers to a period of warm hazy days and cool crisp nights in autumn, following a hard frost. The term originated in the "colonies" and was used by European settlers in correspondence by the late 1700's ( 1778), so it spread to Europe. There are various explanations but all relate to customs of the east coast Native Americans. This is a pretty good explanation on a U.K. Website:

http://www.phrases.org.uk/meanings/indian-summer.html

In the US, according to the Farmer's Almanac, the preceding hard frost is an essential component, so a true Indian Summer occurs quite late here, like October or even November. Since the U.K. Is farther north than New England, you could have an earlier Indian Summer there, like September, and it appears a preceding hard frost is not considered essential. Just don't tell the editor of the Farmer's Almanac.

in English, the four seasons are called Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter

Someone should have told James Taylor that he and Carole King didn't know their own language before he sold those millions of erroneous records!

Maybe they did not sell that album in the UK? Too bad if so, as that is a lovely song.

Or maybe the problem is a rhyme for Autumn? Fall is so much easier. "All you have to do is call".

Fall colors in Europe are generally disappointing, the species, soil, and climate (lack of sudden sub-freezing cold after heat, and frosty mornings with very warm afternoons) don't work for these to develop. Sometimes you will see Asian or N American species planted and they can show quite well, but it's not worth any consideration during a vacation.

Incidentally there is a theory why Europe is relatively poor, tree species wise, as compared to North America. In NA, the mountain ranges run north/south so during glaciation, the cold tree species migrated south with the glaciers, and then north again when they retreated. In Europe, the Pyrenees/Alps run east west so during glaciation the cold tree species were scraped away as the glaciers pushed down to the mountain ranges, then only a few species survived to repopulated north when the glaciers retreated.