Boz and I share a love of lilies; me for its beauty and perfume; Boz for its vertical nature.
August is the month when my garden really goes full-on Victorian, a color explosion of old fashioned flowers plucked from a John Singer Sargent canvas. Hollyhocks, phlox, lilies and roses dot my landscape as if applied from the artist’s palette. At night when all is still and a gentle breeze cuts across my porch, it carries the perfume of late summer, that of the lily.
Thanks to a little photo-editing magic, my lily regale is firmly rooted in the Aesthetic Movement.
Disneyland is to a child as the Pacific Northwest is to the lily bulb; it’s very very happy here. Our cool summers and fast draining soils produce a robust flower of gob-smacking proportions and presence. This queen of flowers holds court and my attention at every turn.
Perfumed porch and social aerie
Because lily blooms can be fleeting, I’ve explored ways to extend their visitations and enjoy their blooms for a longer period of time. It’s a simple ploy and one that doubles the vase and garden life of most lily flowers; I remove the stamens before pollen can be produced.
By removing the stamens you stop pollen production (and nose staining).
The flower’s purpose is to attract a pollinator, facilitate seed production and then fade away when the mission is accomplished. By plucking the stamens off, you circumvent the floral foreplay so there’s no pollen to trigger the process of reproduction.
When the lily flower begins to open, simply pluck the pollen-less stamens from the flower. If you wait too long the pollen appears and resistance is futile, the pollen spores will locate the pistil and love will find a way. The flower having done its job will retire to the garden bed below and enrich the soil as it once enriched the view.
Tom – your lilies are stunning! Thanks for the tip – I have a few lilies about to flower any day now so I will happily follow your advice!
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I LOVE the scent of lilies. To me they are what Christmas smells like.
I don’t grow them, but always take the stamens out of the flowers because, I understand the pollen is poisonous to animals and I don’t want my cats to get pollen on their furs and get sick from licking it off.
Your garden is so beautiful – if you have to be awake in the night, rather than sleeping the sleep of the innocent, you could do no better than enjoy that luscious perfume xxx
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Such beauty. I am still chuckling at the reason Boz loves the lilies. You are so clever.
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Twitter: redneckrosarian
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Great Lilies and an aweseome view to enjoy! Have never removed stamens, but have suffered many indignities due to them on a white starched shirt…..
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Twitter: Shirleygfe
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Gorgeous, gorgeous lilies, Tom! I’m laughing about Boz’s love for lilies, too. I only had a few lilies much earlier in the season (our area is not as friendly to lilies as yours) and not enough to garner our Sonny’s attention, but I’m sure he’d share Boz’s love, too.
Okay, so being a beekeeping family and “pro” pollinators (the beekeepers are even trying to get a pollinator license plate here in VA), are their adverse effects to removing the stamen? Are you interfering with nature and will it affect how many lilies you have in the long run? I’m just asking “blindly” … not trying to figure it out myself.
Thanks,
Shirley
Shirley, I have two acres of weed flowers to satisfy my bees
By not producing seed pods, the lily puts more energy back into the bulb for a bigger flowers and taller stalks next season. This is what I’ve found to be the case. I don’t remove stamens on all lilies, just the ones near walkways and those I plant in pots or put in vases.
Twitter: tasteofbeirut
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Nice of you to mention your dog’r reason for loving lilies; they are so beautiful, lucky dog! Anyway, reading this made me think of a business idea for you: What about planting the crocuses (or whatever flowers they are) that make saffron? That way, you will use your skills and start a cottage industry as well. ?
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Joumana, I love that idea, but not sure my back does, plucking saffron crocus stamens on my knees, ummm maybe there’s a super tall variety.
Gorgeous lilies! You know, I haven’t thought of trying those here in Oregon…thanks for the tips.
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Twitter: renaekm
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The lilies are beautiful! How do you keep your alien deer away?
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Hollyhocks, phlox, lilies, roses and Boz …can this old chick move into your henhouse?
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Yes June, and with your cooking skills you get the guest cabin and full access to Boz!
Just beautiful!
Don’t you just love Lilies…and you are so right about the PNW being practically made for them. I will have to give that a try next year (they are almost done blooming now in my garden for the season). I’m determined to find a super-fragrant lily to place by my front steps (and another for the back yard by my little seating area)…any suggestions?
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Hi Scott, here are my recommendations for fragrant lilies. Skip planting Asian lilies; they’re early, short and no perfume. For garden presence, I’d plant at least 10 in a drift or clump for best effect or two nearby clumps of five, for a total of twenty bulbs between the front yard and back. I’d plant one type in the front yard and one type in the backyard: Oriental Lilies and Orientpet Lilies, respectively.
Orienpet Lilies: July – August bloomers, cross between trumpet and Oriental lilies, subtle but delightful perfume. Amazingly tall, mine are now 7 feet tall, a variety called Satisfaction.
Oriental Lilies: Mid to late August Bloomers, rich fragrance, 4-5 feet tall, amazing variety. I especially like Dizzy (unfortunate name) and Gold Band and Corso.
Source: Scott, I really like John Scheepers for bulbs. And the Trumpet Lily Regale is also favorite and a July bloomer. They like good drainage.
Are you married? I think I’m in love.
Great post and thanks for sharing your experiene with your readers. Really enjoyed reading your post on how to enjoy the blooms of lily for a longer period of time. Do keep posting such wonderful articles
Thanks Alex, how fun to hear all the way from Kuala Lumpur, Best regards from the States, Tom
I do not twitter or use face book. Thanks for the tips and the information, Your garden is magnificent. I shall now look for your books.