Roselily

I don't buy a lot of lilies. They can be a little extra. They are too big for most of my designs. The fragrance can be overwhelming - even migraine-inducing. The pollen on the stamens is a mess. Some of my customers think of lilies as just funeral flowers. However, I was reminded on my trip to Moonshot Farm how beautiful, and manageable, roselilies can be. The farm grows a double yellow variety I had never seen before and was instantly smitten.

I was first introduced to roselilies last summer when Laura Beth from Butterbee Farm convinced me to try them. She promised they were not typical lilies. She was growing a variety called anouska. I had seen them on Instagram, but never IRL. They are double orientals which are fuller, fluffier and more substantial than the typical lilies I'm used to. They are marketed as pollenless and basically fragrance-free.

The roselilies were closed when I got my delivery. They looked liked any other lily. Ugh!. Despite the promises, my lily-dread crept in. I anticipated the strong scent filling my shop and giving me a headache. I started planning to wear my reject outfits over the next few days due to the risk of pollen staining my clothes. The dark cloud evaporated when the roselilies opened. The stems were long with multiple blooms on each. They resembled exotic white lotus flowers with a slight pink edge. The fragrance was subtle, even pleasant. There was a small amount of pollen, so cute fits were back in the queue.

I reached out to my friend and lily expert Ko Klaver of Botanical Trading Co. for an explanation on the pollen. He said roselilies are a new breed of lilies grown to be pollen free. However, under heat stress, they can revert to having some pollen. Ko told me “it is an occasional mutating that seems to still go on a bit… we are fixing that problem through analyzing the bulb production protocols." Good luck with all of that!

I really like roselilies. Breeders are continuing to improve on production. I'm already seeing cool new varieties and more colors available on the market. They have a unique look and improvements which make them more desirable to me than other lilies.

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