By Leslie Cox

Special to the Record

Numerous plant and seed supply companies have been bombarding my inbox since the new year with their announcements of what鈥檚 new and upcoming for my garden this season.

With so many of them vying to catch my attention, it takes a certain 鈥渟tand out鈥� phrase in the subject line to entice me into opening that missive to read their news. And one that definitely snagged my eye had the heading 鈥淧ollen-free Liber lilies.鈥�

Now that is worth a read since John simply cannot keep his nose out of his lilies. And to make it even easier for him to take a heady whiff, he plants his lilies right beside the paths so he not only acquires a bright orange-red nose, he also dyes his white T-shirts. (You鈥檇 think I would have learned by now not to dress him in white and send him out into the garden.)

Looking into these pollen-free lilies a little further, I learned the lily industry has been working for years to develop flowers with no pollen and less scent鈥� two major detrimental issues affecting the world鈥檚 fourth most-traded cut flower. Reduce those traits and they might gain higher status. Really? Don鈥檛 think John would agree.

As it turns out, these Liber lilies in the oriental line are not the first pollen-free lilies to hit the market. 鈥楾iara鈥� and 鈥楾rofea鈥�, also orientals, have been available since the 1990s. There is also a series of double-flowering, pollen-free orientals called Roselily, which came on the market in 2011.

What sets the Liber lilies apart from the Roselilies is the male pollen-producing organ of the flower, the anther, does not produce pollen in the Liber lily. In the Roselilies, the innermost petals encase the anther, effectively keeping the pollen contained. (To my mind, that really doesn鈥檛 make them 100 per cent pollen-free, but it would keep the pollen away from John鈥檚 nose.)

If truth be known, however, I am not worried about the colour of John鈥檚 nose鈥� or even the extra work he generates for the laundry lady. I鈥檓 worried about the bees. They need pollen to make their bee bread, which is their main source of protein and vital for brood production and the development of young bees.

Think about these facts for a moment: it is estimated a typical colony of 20,000 honey bees needs as much as 55 kg of pollen annually. Just one colony. Think how many grains of pollen it would take to make up 55 kg.

Pollen quality obviously fluctuates between plant species. Some pollen is high quality, other pollens not so much. So, when it takes an estimated 145 mg of pollen to raise a single worker bee larva, the higher the pollen quality, which contains a higher percentage of protein, is beneficial. The bees live longer.

But do bees collect pollen from lilies? You know, I am ashamed to admit that I haven鈥檛 noticed. It could be the bees know there is higher protein pollen in the lavender flowers they forage across the path from the lilies. And they forage other plants in that area as well鈥� Eryngium (sea holly), Hydrangea paniculata 鈥楰yushu鈥� and the verbascums, just to name three.

Whether the bees forage pollen from lilies or not, we have to keep them in mind. We are losing our pollinating insects at an alarming rate 鈥� mostly due to pesticide use. But these pollen-free lilies were a wake-up call to me. How many plants are we introducing into our garden that may have poor quality pollen because of their breeding for floral scent or some other so-called desirable quality? Hmmm.

One more tidbit to share鈥� don鈥檛 use water to remove pollen; use sticky tape to lift it off.

John鈥檚 poor nose!

Leslie Cox co-owns Growing Concern Cottage Garden in Black Creek. Her website is