And breath...

And I HATE this bit !!

Look.

Would you do that?? No. Neither would I.
I can't understand why ANYONE would do it.
If you don't like brushing past and possibly getting pollen on your clothes (which is easily brushed off or washes out), why don't you just snip off the anthers themselves?? But chop off the stems along with the stigma too?? It makes me think of my Mother having my fringe cut ridiculously short when I was about six.
I don't know how to describe it other than to say it makes me very very ANGRY!! And come to think of it, that's why I started cutting them and bringing them indoors, as left outside I frequently came home and found them in this state. Enough said...

Just love this bit...

As you will have seen, I like taking photos of my lillies. I really do love my lillies and they've done so well this year - the less than brilliant summer hasn't bothered them at all!

Nearly all the buds have opened now - just 5 more to come. One by one, they've been cut and displayed in champagne glasses indoors. Gorgeous.

But this is my favourite bit. Just as the blooms open in the early morning (I often wonder if it's the lower temperature overnight that makes each ripe bloom open...), the anthers are still "closed" and smooth, like this - 

You can just see though, that this slender little stripey pod is starting to split open along the edge. 

The split quickly spreads along the whole length and the edges fold back on themselves exposing an awful lot of pollen!!

By the end of their first day, the anthers have completely opened and you'd never guess what they looked like at dawn!

FABULOUS!!! Can't wait to see them again next year!!

I also have a pot of toad lillies - Tricyrtis - and they are just starting to open too.