This is how to save your shirts, walls, carpet and skin.

THAT is a big promise! But I think I can help you.

We can't seem to go a week here without hearing "I love lilies, but I HATE all of the mess they make". What a shame! Lilies (and we're talking about Oriental Lilies), are long lasting, fragrant, and fill a space fabulously!

But, you're right. Lilies, without the right kind of loving, can make a dreadful and long lasting mess.

NEVER FEAR!
If you have brushed past your open lilies and managed to ruin your (what is almost inevitably a favourite) shirt, this blog is for you.
If you have a little mark on your white carpet from stepping on, and grinding in, some lily pollen, this blog is for you.
If you have somehow managed to skim your face by your lilies while carrying them across the room, only to find out three hours later (several face to face conversations are likely to happen in this time...) that you are dusted in a delicious shade of gold (not that this has happened to ANY of us here!), this blog is for you.

With just the teeniest bit of maintainance, you can actually prevent all of the above DISASTERS happening, and start enjoying those gorgeous Oriental Lilies once again!

We all know that in bud form, there's nothing to worry about - it's those cheeky stamens, full of pollen that we need to watch out for.

As the lily opens up, we're given the first glimpse of the stamens. At this point, they're harmless*, you can hold them without turning orange! As you can see in the photo, they're tightly wrapped up. (The two on the right are juuust starting to unravel a bit, you can see the colour difference).

(These were plucked from a lily as soon as it started to open).

As our lilies open up further, the stamens start to unwrap themselves, and this is where we run into trouble. On the inside is the loose pollen, which is what makes all the mess. You can see in the photo that it's a gradual process.

(These were plucked from a lily on the second day it was opening).

Finally, once the lilies are completely open, the stamens have completely unwrapped themselves, exposing HEAPS of pollen. There are six stamens on every lily. There are two or three flowers on every stem. There are five stems in a bunch. That's NINETY capsules of pollen, waiting to dust your clothes, carpet, face... everything!!!

(These were plucked from a lily on day three).

So, how do we prevent this pollenicious disaster? By acting early.

Once you can see the stamens, as your lilies begin to open, you want to try and pluck them out. We use our fingers; you don't need to cut them, as they come off nice and easily. We just wait until the flower is open enough that we don't have to squash the petals to get to the stamens!

The following is how we do it here (I know, the lilies are quite open, but it made photographing the HOW much easier!).



I hope this has been a helpful little post, and I'm looking forward to people getting excited about lilies (without the impending doom of all that mess!). If you know anyone who's been attacked by pollen, I'd love for you to share this with them too.

If you've got any floral questions for us, just shoot me an email (flowers@redfragrance.com.au), and I'll try and answer it here as best I can.

See you soon!

Charlie x.

*Lilies are actually very harmful (and can be fatal) to to cats. If you're a cat owner, even if you're extra great at stamen-plucking, lilies (oriental/tiger/asiatic/november...) are not the flower for you.

What I'm into, OUTSIDE the shop...

Yes yes, it's been rather a long time since I posted here, despite my new years resolution to be here more often. (I think I'm still ahead of last year, and it's been VERY busy here!).

In my next post, I'll give you the cheat sheet as to what's been happening at Red Fragrance lately so you feel in the loop, but in the mean time, I wanted to share a Christmas present with you.

If you've ever asked me about my gardening skills, my response is likely to have been along the lines of "quite capable with flowers, AFTER they've been cut, or AFTER someone else has grown them, but growing them seems not to be my forte". A sorry state of affairs, but the truth.

Very late last year, I decided I was going to become a bit of a gardener. No small goal, I can assure you! Anyway, after alot of talk (talking about gardening is so easy, I'm VERY good at that), my fabulous little brother presented me with a most excellent Christmas present!

"How to grow food in small spaces", but Fabian Capomolla and Matt Pember of The Little Vegie Patch Co.

This book is sensational, and if you have the teeniest inkling that you might like to be a gardener, you MUST have a little look. It's written in a very laid back, conversational tone, without any of the slightlytoolongwords that can make some gardening books a little overwhelming. It's chilled out, it's helpful, and it's EASY.

I am now the proud mummy** of some basil (thai and sweet), some coriander, some strawberries, cos lettuce, rosemary and a lime tree (no limes yet, but lots more leaves than when I bought it - growth is a good sign!). Not bad for someone who's forte is NOT gardening. It's so exciting growing part of dinner!

If Matt and Fabian (yes, we're on first name terms now) were Sydney based, I'd definitely buy them a G&T, and if they wait long enough, it'll be with my own home grown limes. Yipee!

I know it's not quite floral, but I hope it's a bit inspiring for a couple of you to go and have a go at growing some basil for dinner.

Happy Tuesday flower lovers!

** Being a mummy to basil is, I have been led to believe, a little different to being a mummy to a small human.
I'd recommend not shrieking "I'm going to be a Mummy!!! to your friends over a latte on a Sunday. Looks of shock, confusion and overwhelmedness have been known to ensue after such a statement being made. Not that I would ever do that...

x.

http://littleveggiepatchco.com.au/the-book/

Congratulations, Stephanie and Nick

Another gorgeous wedding to share with you today! Hooray!

Steph is a self confessed flower lover, and our meetings were always alot of fun. It was a joy to chat with her about which particular blooms in which particular colours were going to put the finishing touches on what was going to be a very beautiful day!



In the end, we included flowers that held meaning and memories - a tribute to loved ones who are also flower lovers, and we complemented these with lots of colour and texture.
Cymbidium orchids, roses and freesias: Sunshine!

I hope these photos make you smile - this was such a smiley wedding to be part of :)

Thank you to Steph and Nick for sharing their day with us, and letting us share some of these beautiful snapshots of it with you. xx.


(These photos were takenDaniel K Cheung, who you can contact at www.danielkcheung.com)

We get by with a little help from our friends...

These photos are from a lovely wedding held in the Hunter Valley last year.

A big thank you to the beautiful Carina from Say Dream, who helped us so much in making these flowers happen. xx





































( www.saydream.com.au )

Hello there, old friend.

Beautiful dahlias, one of summers cheeriest blooms.

Hello there...

It's certainly been a while, hasn't it! I'm quite sorry about that.*

Anyway, here we are in 2012 - already! It's nice to be here with you! While we're on the topic of new years resolutions (oh, we weren't? Well, I guess we are now, which is quite convenient for me!), I'm going to make it my mission to be a bit more vocal here.

There's actually quite alot of lovely things that go on here at Red Fragrance (and of course, when we escape the shop and take RF on the road)! Between the veeery early starts (3.45am is often perceived as still being part of the night - which is a very reasonable perception. But three times a week, 3.45am is the time you need to wake up if you're going to the markets!), amazing and unexpected pieces of flora that we get to play with, and the beautiful events we get to decorate, there's lots going on behind the scenes here, and I'd love you to see some of them.

SO, here's to a bit more blog-love, more photos and more chatter about the deliciously crazy world that is Red Fragrance.

Chat soon, flower lovers!

Charlie x.

*You might know, I'm not the most technologically adept individual (if you didn't know previously, now you do). Anyway, unfortunately I allowed one technological hiccup to get the better of me in 2011, and this blog was sadly neglected. For that I apologise.