Lilies and Lilly's

Once again, the week has flown by and it's already nearing the half way point of my stay in Cleveland.  I cannot believe how fast the days are passing, especially because there are still so many things that I want to see and do around Cleveland!  The rest of the work week was pretty calm, I didn't work on any projects that were too out of the ordinary.  Thursday was an early day, as we were fortunate enough to be invited out to the Director of Horticulture's home to visit her day lily farm.  It was a fantastic visit, and I was quite impressed. 

On one side of their yard, 400 named varieties of lilies are planted.  Three years ago, the lilies were hand pollinated and crossed to produce about 3,000 different seed pods.  The seed pods were removed from the parent lilies, refrigerated and stored over the winter then planted on the other side of the yard in the following year.  Only 900 of the 3,000 were planted.  It takes two years before the lilies begin to produce blooms.  After two years, Cynthia and her husband observe the hybridized products and choose about twelve of their favorites to name.  My favorite named lily was the "Mushy Peas," which unfortunately was not in bloom on the day of our visit.  The name reminded me of the classic side dish served with fish and chips in England, which led me to become a bit jealous of my parents and their upcoming trip across the pond!  (Especially because they get to watch some of the Olympic games!)

Besides the hybridized day lilies, Cynthia also has numerous other fantastic gardens and even chickens, too!  Her yard was absolutely phenomenal!  Plus, they have a greenhouse attached to their garage filled with beautiful orchids, unfortunately not too many were in bloom during this time of the year.

Me with the Parent Varieties

Beautiful Day Lilies

Orchid Greenhouse







Cynthia is pretty attached to her chickens, and I was amazed at how calm they were.  She was able to pick them up and handle them as if they were pets.  She has a total of six chickens, three Rhode Island Reds and the rest Golden Buffs.  They are egg layers which will starting laying in October.  Once they begin, they lay an egg a day for three years.  After that, they begin to lay more sporadically with one egg every few days or so.  These chickens also have a top-notch home - I have never seen such a clean chicken coop in my life.  Cynthia also referred to their home as the "Fort Knox of chicken coops," because they have had some problems with raccoons breaking in, they now have a pretty secure den. 

Chicken Coop

Cynthia and one of the chickens

Today, I spent some more time working with lilies in the Restorative Garden.  I helped Robin stake some of the Oriental lilies.  My hands are temporarily dyed from pollen, as are my clothes!  Oh well, I do work in the garden after all, a little pollen isn't a problem.  I also spent a portion of my afternoon doing some labelling.  Basically I affixed the labels to stakes and then helped Robin place the stakes in their appropriate places throughout the garden.  It was an excellent activity for a Friday afternoon, the perfect start to my weekend.

This evening, I also checked out the Tremont neighborhood for the Tremont Art Walk.  Tremont is known for its good food and ability to dazzle the eyes, or so I heard from one of the locals.  I must agree, great food and lots of interesting art.  My favorite stop was most definitely to Lilly's Handcrafted Chocolates.  There are no words to describe how amazing the truffles are, and I have only tried two so far.  I must limit my consumption so I enjoy them!  Besides chocolates, they specialize in fine wines and craft brews.  They provided some great recommendations on pairing their chocolates with their different beverage choices.  It was a delicious experience to say the least.

Lilly's Chocolates

Delicious Truffles

So far, my favorite truffle has been the Forty Winks, which is dark chocolate with fresh lavender ganache and candied violets, simply to die for.  Otherwise, my small box of chocolates consist of six other interesting truffles (from top left):

1. Pistachio- Milk chocolate with pistachio butter and sea salt
2. Red Planet- Dark chocolate with Syrah soaked strawberries and freeze dried raspberry powder
3. Frou Frou- White chocolate with blood orange juice and passion fruit juice
4. PB Monsters- Milk chocolate with fresh peanut butter, clover honey, feuilletine crunch, and Himalayan pink salt
5. Shweetie Pie- White chocolate with vanilla bean and caramel roasted almonds
6. Southern Gentleman- Milk chocolate with Maker's Mark bourbon and buttered pecans

I am really looking forward to trying the rest of this delicious variety!  The rest of the weekend will be spent crossing off more things from my Cleveland to do list as well as beginning to do some research for my intern project.  My mentor, Larry, has given me a few names of designers to look into that may assist in influencing my re-design of the Courtyard Garden.  I would also like to congratulate my new boss, Mark Hoover, on his promotion from horticulturist to Grounds Keeper at CBG!  He has already been an excellent help to the interns in our transition between bosses, and I know that he will be great as the new Grounds Keeper!  I look forward to working with him the rest of this summer.