Lilies are a popular choice for UK gardeners and plant lovers, offering a variety of colors, sizes, and fragrances for both gardens and bouquets. There are several different lily varieties, including Asiatic, Oriental, Trumpet, and Tree lilies, each with unique characteristics.
However, it’s important to remain mindful of your household surroundings if you’re bringing any type of lily flower into your home, as they are very toxic for animals, including dogs and cats.
All parts of the lily plant, including the leaves, flowers, pollen, and even the water in a vase, can be dangerous. If indigested even in small amounts, it can lead to serious health issues like kidney damage, vomiting, loss of appetite, and lethargy.
If you don’t have any pets at home and want to make sure your boquet of lilies stay fresh and vibrent as long as possible, there’s one simple hack you can do that only take seconds.
Taking to Instagram, creator Olivia Dayton was seen sharing the hack on her fresh bouquet, as she wrote: “Performing minor surgery every time I get lilies.”
In the video, Olivia is seen using tweezers to remove the stamens from the inside of each flower.
Stamens are the male reproductive parts of a flower. They are typically composed of a stalk-like filament and a pollen-producing anther. The anther is where pollen grains are formed, and these grains are essential for pollination.
While viewers were confused about why this is useful for keeping your lilies fresh and long-lasting, one florist from Williams Florist and Nursery took to Interflora’s social media account to explain the benefits of removing the stamens on lilies.
In the video, the florist is seen using his hands to remove the darker coloured stamens from inside each lily flower, saying it should be very easy to do. If the stamens have opened up with pollen, it might stain your hands, but this can be easily washed off.
Explaining the benefits of removing the stamens, he said: “It helps lengthen the life of the flower, and it stops the flower from being stained by the pollen.”
Several people took to the comments of Olivia’s video, as many shared their go-to tips on how to best remove the stamens.
“I use a wet paper towel and grab them all at once. They glide right off, and the loose pollen sticks to the wet paper towel!!” one person shared.
Other shared their excitement in trying the hack, as they called it ‘genius’.
“This is so smart because those little pollen things STAIN everything they touch, including skin (I once had a dyed chin and didn’t notice all day). Also I miss lillies too, my fellow cat people,” one person said, while a second person said: “What, this is amazing, I hate when they fall and stain everything. Great tip!”
“Yesss! Have to do this every time or I’ll be sneezing for two weeks,” another person said.
However, not everyone were impressed, as another viewer argued: “But they look so much prettier with them on.”
