Longwood Gardens: Lilies

We went to Longwood Gardens last night to see their special exhibit: Light.  When we walked in at 7p we saw a sign that said there was a talk about lilies scheduled for 630. I wasn't upset that we missed it, but I was excited for Ross to be able to see the lilies while it was still light. I've seen the lilies a few times before, but Ross had never seen them. When we got to the lily pond area the talk was still going on. I learned a lot about the life cycle of the Victoria water lily and got to see the underside of the lily platter.

We were encouraged to poke and smell the flowers and feel the lily platter.

The underside was spiky. The experts said that the platter could hold 110lbs, but the top skin is very thin.

This is a cross-section of the Victoria lily first night bloom. Beetles are attracted to the scent (pungent frou frou cheesy) and crawl down into the flower.  The flower closes up and traps the beetles inside. On the second night the hole the beetles entered through is shut tightly, so they force their way out--and in the process are coated in pollen.  The beetles move onto another first night flower--and pollinate it.  The first night flower is white, and the second night flower is more pink--you can see one on the ground next to the lily platter in the photo above (the large open flower.)

The lily pond also has night blooming lilies. Here is the before (still daylight) photo.

Here is the same flower later on--when it was dark.

Longwood Gardens in June

My parents are visiting and we went to Longwood Gardens on Friday. Ross wasn't feeling well enough to go with us (I know exactly how he feels because he passed his disease on to me.)  The last time my parents visited the gardens was in the Spring--so the Conservatory was awesome, but the grounds were a little barren. This time they got to see everything green and lots of things in full bloom.

These glass fixtures light up at night. There are all sorts of lights set up on the grounds for a special exhibit that Ross and I will have to check out soon.

We saw lots of critters at Longwood, but the most exciting thing we saw was this fox.

Springtime at Longwood

Ross and I went up to Longwood Garden on Saturday morning. It was a little misty, but not enough for an umbrella. The conservatory was, as always, impressive. The tulips and other bulbs were blooming. We finally took the plunge and bought a membership. We will definitely go back when my parents come visit, but hopefully we'll make it up there before that. 

Oh, and they were having an orchid sale. Orchids for only 15 or 25 dollars. I resisted! 

Longwood Gardens in Summer

Yesterday Amy and I went to Longwood Gardens to see it in the Summer. It was beautiful of course. The conservatory main hall was better in the Spring. The best part was that I finally got to see the water lily display. I also saw lots of bees hard at work amongst the flowers.

Longwood Gardens

On Thursday we went to Longwood Gardens with my parents. My favorite thing was the smell of the grapefruit blossoms. Ross's favorite thing was the view as you walk into the conservatory. My dad's favorite thing was blue daisies. I'm not sure what my mom's favorite thing was. She had trouble deciding. Here's just a few photos. We had a great time.