Dear John: Removing the pollen I call "the gelding of the lily!" Cheers, John E. Bryan johngrimshaw@tiscali.co.uk wrote: > > I place great value on fragrance in flowers, and take the trouble to have a > sniff at most things. So many spring flowers are beautifully scented: the > perfume on entering an RHS show in February or March is quite wonderful. > Warmth, however is often needed to release it, hence the failure to notice > it in the garden. > > I have no objection to the stinks of aroids and frits, but what I really > hate is the scent of lilies and hyacinths. A bed of trumpet or oriental > lilies pumping out their sickly pong pollutes the air about it, and I have > to leave - much though I admire the plants and their flowers. I once got a > pew at a wedding immediately adjacent to a great mass of lilies and was > poisoned throughout the service. As Shakespeare said: 'Lilies that fester > smell far worse than weeds.' Lilium candidum is an honourable exception. > > While on a rant about lilies, I object very strongly to the florists' trick > of emasculating the flowers, to prevent the pollen staining. The intention > is admirable, perhaps, but it removes the beauty of the flower - that circle > of six orange anthers poised above the segments give the flower life and > beauty, lost when they are removed. > > John Grimshaw > > Dr John M. Grimshaw > Garden Manager, Colesbourne Gardens > > Gardens Cottage > Colesbourne > Nr Cheltenham > Gloucestershire GL53 9NP > > Website: http://www.colesbournegardens.org.uk/ > > > > _______________________________________________ > pbs mailing list > pbs@lists.ibiblio.org > http://www.pacificbulbsociety.org/list.php