Profile: Prof Peter Crane, director of Kew Gardens

So it stands to reason that director Professor Peter Crane has an exceptional background and an enthusiastic spring to his step.

Work experience at the gardens was hailed as wonderful experience' by the professor, referring to when he was a summer student back in 1974; "I studied botany at the University of Reading in 1972 and between the second and third year I came to Kew. I worked here for six months and lived with a family in Chiswick - I walked here every day.

"I kept in touch with Kew and studied at Reading for nine years and taught there," Peter continued. "I then went to the US - Indiana University and the Field Museum of Chicago for 17 years.

"I studied plants and plant evolution for the last six to seven years in the states and was in charge of science at the museum, mainly anthropology and zoology."

When returning in August 1999 at the age of 45 to take on this job, a decision was made to see what has improved after a decade, as it will be the 250th anniversary of Kew and ten years since Peter secured this prestigious position.

"I have been working hard ever since and we are about half way there. I am very satisfied with what we have done and can really see some clear and tangible results. The visitor numbers have gone from 850,000 to 1.1 million."

This was impressive since other attractions have suffered. During the record breaking heatwave last summer, the gardens, recently awarded with World Heritage Status, were one of the few tourist hotspots in Britain to survive declining visitor figures.

Being an outdoor attraction, there is the peril of contending with the infamous British weather, but there are aspects which can be controlled to boost visitor numbers.

"We can control how good the product is and the marketing," Peter explains.

"The orchids festival and a range of other activities are examples. There is Easter, the bluebell festival in early May, the main summer attraction with themes such as Japan or colours contributes to success. We also made the decision to make children free, which is an opportunity for families. We try to do things that families with children will enjoy and find fun.

"We are now a World Heritage Site" - this recognises the importance of Kew's uninterrupted contributions to botanical and environmental science since 1759, together with a unique collection of plants from all over the world, and its international influence on the history of landscape and garden design.

"This has been due to a huge amount of work and represents commitment. This is good progress."

The director lives in a house backing on to Kew Gardens with his wife - who is American - 13-year-old daughter and son who is eight. Whilst this is wonderfully convenient, it also means no escape although "who would mind having access to the gardens every day?"

He remarks: "I love it here. I really love to see people using the place and enjoying the place. It is good to see the staff (of which there are 500) enthusing about it. I love to take a walk in the gardens and I like to see the people out there enjoying themselves. I like to gauge what is going on in the gardens and see what is different. It is a magical place, every time I go there I get a slightly different experience. Things go out of flower and into flower, it is really positive."

The gardens has an extremely impressive range of living collections, specimens, botany collections, library and archives, glasshouses, museums, galleries, structures, research centres with thousands of outdoor plants and flowers.

And the Herbarium assortments include specimens from great scientists and explorers of the past - Charles Darwin, David Livingstone - and plants found outside Tutankhamun's tomb.

There is major scientific research carried out behind the scenes, one example was the work of a botanist who identified plant fragments in the intestine of a torso of a little boy found in the Thames in 2001.

"More and more scientific work is orientated between scientific conservation. We are making the most of the exhibits and specimens we have here for conservation purposes. So there is good progress on the public side and on the science side."

There is also a strong belief that the barriers are being knocked down between the gardens and the local general public: "We feel very much a part of the Kew community. We try to be as open as we can to the community and connect to the community.

"In the past they were very much on that side of the wall and now they are on this side. It is very important for us to listen to them. It is a two way street. Kew Gardens contributes a lot to the community. We encourage local schools. They don't have to book they can just come. We have no reason to have bureaucracy. We try to help where we can," Peter says.

"I don't want to be smug, but I am satisfied. We are getting through a lot of work, we have got to get where we want to be and we are moving forward very fast."

Hopefully, the positive forecast Peter holds for the future prevails.

And if the other type of forecast, namely the weather, is a problem for the outdoor aspect of the gardens, it certainly won't hinder the indoor enjoyment of tramping amongst mangrove swamps, arid deserts, the alpine regions, hot and humid jungles and following evolution over 3,500 years.