Removing Lily Flower Anthers To Lengthen Bloom Time

There are two main reasons to remove the pollen covered parts from a Lily flower.

Removing the small bean like anthers before they are covered in pollen will:
1.) prevent getting pollen everywhere which can stain both inside the flower and cloth.
2.) lengthen the bloom time of the flower.

Removing the pollen source will inhibit pollination and will lengthen flowering duration.

Lily flowers have various structural parts. Petals, which give the trumpet flower shape and encase inside male and female parts. It's important to know the difference.

Male: 6 stamens (thin filaments) and anthers which carry the pollen.
Female: The long stigma, style and ovary.

The sticky, fleshy stigma. In pollination, it accepts the pollen and fertilizes the ovary down the long style tube which connect them together.

In this photo, the filaments have had the anthers removed.

Once pollinated, an embryonic seed will develop at the base of the flower.

The trick to doing this is to remove the anthers at the end of long filaments inside the flower before they release the yellow powdery pollen.

Once the flower begins to open, gently remove the anthers either with your fingers, or better yet, with a pair of tweezers like above. The trick is not to get any pollen on the the petals nor bruise any of the petals trying to reach the anthers. Stigma's have a sticky coating to make the pollen adhere. Do handle with care. At this stage the anthers are long and quite fleshy. They have no pollen. Although, within hours they begin to change and release their intended purpose.

Here, 6 anthers are removed and you can clearly see they have no powdery pollen residue.

In my experience, the flowers last several days longer with this removal.

Don't worry, if the anthers bobble about and are full of pollen, it's a bit late but still doable.

Carefully wrap your fingers around the anthers, making sure you protect the stigma below and tease away gently before pollen is dispersed.  The trick is not to get any on the sticky stigma.

Do this as well with amaryllis and any other lily. Most florists and garden centres do this for you, but if you buy potted plants or cut flowers which are in bud, it'll be up to you to achieve a lengthier bloom time with this trick once the flowers open.
Have a go!

Amaryllis Blooming in Spring - Happy Easter!

I experimented with my Amaryllis this winter. As always, I re-potted it last November, whilst it was dormant.

 It leafed up, and flowered beautifully right around the Christmas season, but this time I did something different.

I let it be.

I lost two leaves in January, but two stayed green and grew quite in length without wilting and dying back. I left them, while they weigh heavily down and then propped them up by a window. Each watering, I added water soluble 7 7 7 fertilizer and let it dry between feedings. The bulb grew large, so I kept the leaves to give the bulb energy.

Lo'and behold, this is the result. New leaves and a flower bud...emerging in late March.

You can see the two longer leaves to the left are the originals from December. Three newer leaves were emerging last week when I had a hunch it was to re-bloom.

The bulb became large. Wanting to up-size the pot a bit, the bulb wouldn't budge without some force, which would either damage the leaves or the roots. So I left it.

Yay!

I decided to remove last year's leaves and allow the plant to straighten.

I gather since it's spring, I have less light coming through the window, making the leaves and flower stalk stretched quite a bit.

Who says Amaryllis can only be enjoyed during Christmas? This one has bloomed in time for Easter. How fitting. Only three blooms, yet fully representing the Trinity on Easter. Fits in well with my Easter Lily, no?  :)  Happy Easter!

If I can manage it, I will try and do it again. Perhaps, it will flower 3 times in a year.

Potting Up Amaryllis Bulb

A new year brings new experiences and a new job opportunity for me. I've been so busy! So many changes going on has made me lag behind in blog posts. For that I apologize.

Here is my amaryllis bulb that I saved from last years post. Unfortunately, I grossly delayed in getting it potted up for it to flower during the Christmas season. However, the bulb is still viable and will demonstrate how to get it growing again.

It's best to select a pot that is only an inch or so wider in diameter than the bulb itself. You don't want the bulb to swim in a lot of growing compound.

This Amaryllis bulb has atrophied quite a bit due to my neglect. But it's still firm and has green colouration on the collar and bulb bulge.  Here I removed as much dry skin and dry roots as possible. Removing that prevents rot and it also allows more light to hit the bulb, helping to initiate growth again.

Add just a bit of potting soil at the base of the pot. Here I only added about an inch and a half worth. Tuck roots nicely underneath the bulb. Make sure the bulb stands tall in the pot, so that its collar and the top of the bulb remains exposed.

Add enough potting soil to reach the crest at the top of the bulb and tamp down.

Water enough to just dampen the soil at first. In a day or two, test the soil to see how dry/moist it is and water until just moist to the touch. You just want enough moisture, not too much watering at this stage.

Place in a sunny window and wait about a week before you start to see a leaf emerge. As it begins to grow and send out leaves, water more generously. Remove it from the decorative pot to see if it sits in water. If so, drain excess water so it won't rot out. Enjoy!

Here are other Heidihorticulture posts regarding the care of Amaryllis bulbs.

Amaryllis Update

July 12th

Given the unseasonably HOT start to the summer, my Amaryllis plant is starting to turn already. Usually this starts to happen around August/Sept - so, we'll see how much energy has been returned to the bulb.

Here is my previous post regarding the care of your Amaryllis.

July 17th

July 19th

The time when the plant expires, is when each blade of the Amaryllis foliage will begin to wither and wilt as you can see.  Allow them to completely wilt, so that the leaf can come easily free from the bulb.

July 23rd

Continue to water the Amaryllis still at this stage, but only to keep the bulb from drying out.

It takes a week or two for all the leaves to wither back.

Once all the leaves have withered, remove the bulb from the pot and gently tease the soil away from the roots. Keep as many of the roots as you can.





As you can see, there is a small leaf emerging from the bulb top. It looks familiar, doesn't it? Many amaryllis bulbs look this way in the fall when they are available to purchase. Not to worry, that just means the bulb wants to start off fresh again.







Right now, I am placing the bulb back into the empty pot (composted the used soil) and I will place it in my cool, dark laundry room for 2 weeks or so. I will keep an eye on it throughout the next weeks. Once the roots go limp and brittle, I will remove as many as I can without damaging the bulb. Once I've tidied up the bulb (don't leave too much debris, or mold may develop), I will place it in a bowl of vermiculite to keep it dry. Keeping it in a cool dark place until early November, when I plan to start the process all over again!

Hope yours stores well. What other medium do you store your bulbs in?

Here is my post on how to start the process all over again. Enjoy!