Early Saturday morning, while contractors continued construction along Fort Washington Way, a dozen volunteers were rescuing more than a thousand day lilies from along the highway.
By 9 a.m. the flower-rescuers had lifted most of the day lilies from the area at Third and Elm streets and were moving them to Interstate 75's Mitchell Avenue interchange, where they would be replanted safely away from construction.
"This has been a great cooperative effort," said John Deatrick, the city engineer supervising the Fort Washington Way project. The effort to save the lilies was organized by the Cincinnati Park Board, Keep Cincinnati Beautiful, the Civic Garden Center and Ohio State University Extension.
"I'm thrilled to be out here," Cass Weisman of Covedale said. "This is a wonderful opportunity to be a part of beautifying the city and to save something living. I'm really glad the city decided not to just plow over them."
Ms. Weisman, like most of the volunteers, is a member of the Master Gardeners Association. The OSU Extension created the "master gardeners" program for Greater Cincinnati residents interested in university-level horticulture training, said Bobbie Strangfeld, Consumer Horticulture Coordinator for Hamilton County.
Terre McNamara digs up daffodils for transplanting.
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After receiving 50 hours of training, master gardeners are expected to volunteer 50 hours of their time. But it is all good times for these green-thumbs.
Master gardener Terre McNamara drove more than 3.5 hours from her houseboat in Russell Springs to help save the day lilies.
"I love to garden," Ms. McNamara said. "It's spring and your hands just start itching. . . . It is good to see a city that cares about its green spaces."
Keep Cincinnati Beautiful Director Linda Holterhoff said Saturday's project is just one of many planned by her group and the Park Board to cover Cincinnati green spaces with daffodils and day lilies. The Ohio Department of Transportation has given the project $100,000 for plant materials with the understanding that Keep Cincinnati Beautiful will match them dollar for dollar.
The Park Board has already rescued numerous small plants from Sabin Park, and will be returning to remove small trees and plants from green spaces within the next several months.
