The beauty of fresh lilies
On Sunday, I was busy beavering away in the shop cleaning all the vases, changing the water and re-cutting the flowers; and I noticed the usual beautiful smell in the shop and it got me thinking about a question that I have always take for granted....."what is that beautiful smell?"
Well the answer is simple isn't it, it's just the flowers? Well the answer isn't always that simple. I decided to undertake an investigation to provide an answer to what was creating a beautiful, sweet smell. I pulled down a vase of some beautiful pink lilies and got a huge waft of scent....the culprit were the lilies!!
They are just a beautiful underrated flower. Not only are they showy, bold and beautiful; they also carry the most divine scent! However, they do have a dangerous side to them as well. One of their bad habits is that the pollen from their stamens will stain anything! We usually remove the stamens as soon as we can so that when you take the flowers home, you don't walk away with stained clothes etc! (You'll know when I've been removing the stamens due to yellow stained hands!) If you wish your lilies to keep the stamens, then just let us know and we will keep some set aside for you.
The main problem with lilies is that they are highly poisonous to our feline friends. Every part of the lily plant can cause renal failure if ingested by a cat. The main cause of harm is when a cat rubs against some lilies and gets pollen on to the fur which is then 'cleaned off' by the cat. If you have a cat that munches on flowers....try avoid lilies and don't place lilies where a cat can easily brush up against them. Saying that, we have 2 cats ourselves and we have grown up with cats and never had a problem! Just know your cat behaviour and you can still have beautiful lilies in your home.
I love the lilies that we get; they are beautiful, they last and most importantly, they smell just amazing. I am so proud of the quality of lilies we get from our supplier in the Waikato.
Yes they are New Zealand grown flowers bringing us all such great pleasure!!