Lilies are beautiful. There is something magical about the unparalleled optimism of watching those big star-shaped flowers throw themselves open to the world.
However, they can also be a big old mess as they start to age and the pollen falls – or if you accidentally bump one!
If you’ve been unlucky enough to have this pollen stain your clothing – or even worse, your furniture – you will know exactly what I’m talking about.
For me, the real trigger to takc action was not too long ago, when we got some beautiful flowers that triggered Zach’s allergies. (Why? Yet again, pollen! And lots of allergy-prone folks can have issues with these.)
The bouquet was a lovely gift and we didn’t want to throw it out. That’s when I heard about this…
You can simply remove these bits of the stamens!
Martha Stewart does an excellent demo video, though to be honest, it is so simple, you almost don’t need a video.
Basically, you just reach in, give a gentle tug, and the pollen carrying parts of the plant come right out.
I’ve sometimes found this easier to do little piece at a time rather than grabbing them all in one go – it’s less efficient, but also less likely I will drop pollen on the table in the process!
I also discovered recently that you can usually do this even with lilies that haven’t completely opened yet. Just grip the protruding stamens and give a tug.
And just a word of warning, it might stain your fingers a bit, so make sure you’re got very dry hands before you start, and get in quick with the soap and water once you’re done.
Photo by Doug Kelley on Unsplash