Order Beds & Rose Pergola

The Order Beds

The area now occupied by the Order Beds was a kitchen garden when the Royal Botanic Gardens belonged to the Royal family. It was presented to the state by Queen Victoria in 1846-47.

Today, during the summer months, the Order Beds are one of the most colourful areas at Kew with an organised collection of more than 3000 different types of herbaceous plants, reflecting the scientific importance of Kew's living plant collections.

The Order Beds were originally introduced by Sir Joseph Hooker as a living library of flowering plants so that students of botany and horticulture could learn to recognise plants and experience at first hand the diversity of the plant kingdom.

They can also be called a Systematic Garden, because the plants are systematically arranged so that they can be easily located for study. This process, and the science of understanding the relationship between plants, is known as taxonomy and is the basis of research carried out at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew.

The plants are almost exclusively temperate herbaceous dicotyledonous plants - in other words, plants with two seed leaves. Monocotyledons (plants with one seed leaf) can be seen in other parts of the Gardens, such as grasses in the Grass Garden and orchids in the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

Plant families in the Order Beds

In the Order Beds, plants from 51 different families are grown in the 126 beds. The amount of space allocated depends on the size of the family, the number of herbaceous species and the number that are hardy in this country. If the families are small, several are grown in one bed, whilst the larger families are accommodated in several beds. For example, the largest dicotyledonous family, the Compositae (daisy family) occupies various beds. By growing plants from the same family together, similarities and differences in appearance are easily visible and it is possible to see a sample of the diversity within the herbaceous flowering plants. For example, the Ranunculaceae (buttercup family) contains species exhibiting very different flowers and leaves, such as columbine (Aquilegia vulgaris), buttercups (Ranunculus spp.) and love-in-a-mist (Nigella damascena). In comparison, many members of the Umbelliferae (carrot family) have distinctive flowering heads in the form of umbels (rather like the spokes of an upturned umbrella).

Plant profile: sweet wormwood

Many of the families displayed in the Order Beds contain well-known ornamental or crop plants. For example, amongst the members of the Compositae (daisy family) are sunflower (Helianthus annuus ), lettuce (Lactuca sativa), tarragon (Artemisia dracunculus), and sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua), a plant which contains chemicals used in the treatment of malaria. In the Solanaceae (potato family) beds are potatoes (Solanum tuberosum), tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum) and peppers (Capsicum annuum).

An increasing number of plants in the Order Beds are grown from seeds of wild origin. This enhances the value of the collection for research and education. Only species and varieties are displayed in the Order Beds - cultivated forms can be seen in other areas of the Gardens, such as the Duke's Garden and the Queen's Garden.

The Rose Pergola

The Rose Pergola was built and planted over the main paths of the Order Beds in 1959 to mark the bicentennial of the Gardens. It supports some beautiful cultivated climbing roses selected for their profusion and length of flowering.

Circular beds on either side of the path from the Rock Garden are used to trial various plants which could be suitable for ornamental plantings elsewhere at Kew. The surrounding walls provide shelter for many plants, including the Actinidia kolomikta with its striking spring foliage (pink, red and white).

Continue the tour

Back up to: North Eastern Zone

Carry on to: Student Vegetable Plots