London's Garden at National History Museum vs diff flower garden vs Clifton Nurseries

I haven’t been to Clifton but Green Park and St. Jame’s Park off the Mall are incredibly colorful when in bloom. Another venue to consider is the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. More than 300 acres of gardens with 50,000 plants and its enormous “Palm House” — a huge glass and iron conservatory built in 1844– today houses flowering tropical plants and trees from around the world.

The Princess of Wales Conservatory, opened in 1987 by Princess Diana, is a greenhouse with desert succulents and cacti, along with tropical flowers like orchids.
This place is an outdoor museum with a comprehensive collection of Earth ‘s botanical life
“ Kew Gardens,” as Londoners call it, is in Richmond just 7 miles from Henry 8th’s Hampton Court Palace. Trains from London’s Waterloo station to Kew Gardens station take about 30 minutes.
Have a great Trip!

I think Kew Gardens has its own tube station. There’s quite a bit to see there.

Looking at the website for the Natural History Museum Gardens' Tour I'm not sure that it is what you are expecting. It seems to be more a scamper through evolutionary history that a 'garden'.

Clifden Nurseries website looks impressive but it describes itself as a garden centre, so their main aim is to sell plants to you. It will also have a large gift area too as well as a cafe. It isn't a 'garden' on the traditional sense of the word, and there are hundred's of garden centres.

I'd also recommend Kew Gardens. It is easy to spend a full day there as there is so much to see and enjoy there. It is a huge site. The glass houses are amazing and it is worth visiting just to see them!

Kew Gardens station is a shared Tube/London Overground station. To get there from Waterloo you would have to change at Richmond. From most parts of tourist London the tube (direct District line trains) probably makes as much sense as any other route.

Kew Bridge, across the Thames from the gardens, is served directly from Waterloo,

I've never heard of Clifton Nurseries, but see it is adjacent to Little Venice, close to Paddington. While I'm sure it would be very interesting and full of seasonal flowers, it seems to be primarily a Garden Centre. Maybe worthwhile if you were staying in the Paddington area or had time between trains, possibly less so as a specific tourist trip. But that might depend on your own level of interests in the plants.

At the Natural History Museum, as well as the guided tours, the gardens are always available for free with a normal free admission ticket.

Kew will always be the premier London garden visit though. I suppose it depends on whether you want to follow the normal tourist trail, or go slightly off it (like the NHM gardens where most people probably stay inside the museum) or go off beat, like a garden centre.

It might be worthwhile looking at some of the lesser known gardens as well of which this is a sampler- https://www.visitlondon.com/things-to-do/openspace/garden/london-gardens

The end of September/ beginning of October is the end of the flowering season, so going to a big garden like Kew is your best bet as there will be a greater range of plants to see, and you have the huge conservatories too which are full of interest year-round.

The Natural History Museum Garden is not a flower garden, it’s more of a stroll through leafy plants with dinosaurs- interesting in itself, but not flowery!

Keep in mind that Kew takes a lot of walking and outdoor attire, despite having some nice greenhouses.. The Tube station is a short walk away from the gardens. I like lunch and pastry at the adjacent Maids of Honour tearoom.

If the weather is river-worthy, I highly recommend the trip to Kew from the Westminster Pier.

Kew Gardens station is a shared Tube/London Overground station. To get there from Waterloo you would have to change at Richmond.

Many people, myself included, will take the train to Richmond and then hop on the very frequent number 65 bus. 4 or 5 minutes to directly outside either the Lion Gate or the Victoria Gate.

Instead of the climb up from the southbound District/Overground platform up and over the tracks on the overbridge, and then through the little shopping area next to the station, and then the walk down Lichfield Road to cross Kew Road by the light, into Victoria Gate.

different options for different people

Thanks everyone. On a previous thread, I had posted about unusual and quirky things to do in London. Many people gave great ideas. From there, I found the Kew Gardens hosts yoga classes. Yes, I am hesitating because it's a long distance from central London. That's just the info I wanted re: Natural History Museum. They also host yoga and craft lessons if anyone is interested. I had read that Regents Park with Queen Mary's Garden is a good choice as is another one that is currently escaping me.

It’s a 25 minute tube ride to Kew.

So is Bletchley Park or the Crystal Park Dinosaurs or Mudchute Farm … then I live in LA where going to the Supermarket can take 25 minutes to an hour.

The London Underground is a brilliant way to move around London.

Are Chiswick gardens on your itinerary?

The tour guide on my London Walks tour of Little Venice told us about Clifton Nursery at the end of our tour. It happened to be very close to where the tour ended. I love gardening and decided to go. Its entrance is hidden between two buildings and very easy to miss. I had a look around, bought some tea towels, visited the cafe, and their very clean toilets. It’s not a place I would say is a “must see,” but if you’re in the neighborhood and love gardens it’s definitely a nice place to take a break.

I don't know if this was mentioned in your other thread but there is also the Chelsea Physic Garden. I have only looked in the gate on a London Walks tour (and was too pooped to go back to it afterward, lol). Not sure the variety of flowering plants they have in the fall.

https://www.chelseaphysicgarden.co.uk/

I had not looked into Chiswick Gardens. Wow, what an array of options! Thanks!

On the topic of unusual experiences, someone pointed me towards this: https://www.flolondon.co.uk/all-posts/coolest-yoga-classes-in-london
. I'm glad it gives me options in terms of locations and times. I had searched using the zumba website and found the zumba classes to be pretty far outside of central London. I had found Clifton Nurseries written up in a London Walks blog.