Lilies - Time for a Revival?

The sight of James Wong at the RHS Spring Fair got me thinking about lilies.  As some of you may be aware, we are fans of James' books and seeds - we had tastings last October of tomatillos grown from his seed range available from Suttons - and having been to one of his talks at Coolings last year, we are huge fans of the man himself.  But sadly, I have to part company over lilies.  James was recently promoting them on the Great British Garden Revival on BBC2, bemoaning the fact that they have dropped out of favour and are not grown in the English garden as often as they used to be.

I have one word for you, James - and that word is "cats".  I am sure that one of the many reasons that they have fallen out of favour is that they are so poisonous to our feline friends and neighbours.  Obviously, many of the plants in our gardens are toxic to cats or other wildlife if they eat them, but what sets lilies apart from these is the pollen.  If cats brush against the lilies and get the pollen on their fur, they will lick it off and thus swallow a potentially lethal amount of poison.  According to the Cats' Protection League website, "unfortunately, several types of lily have been found to be deadly to cats, including Easter lily, tiger lily, rubrum lily, Japanese show lily, some species of day lily (ie Hemerocallis - Ed), and certain other members of the Liliacaea family".

If you have cats and you are lucky enough to be given a floral bouquet that includes lilies, don't forget to cut the stamens out and to dispose of them carefully (you are also doing yourself a favour, as the pollen from the stamens will stain your clothes orange if you brush against them, and there is anecdotal reports that removing the stamens makes them last longer).  Indoor lilies create more problems for a cat than outdoor ones, as there is at least a chance that much of the pollen on outdoor plants has been washed off or otherwise removed by wind or bees, and the breeze can remove some of the pollen before the cat grooms; there is no chance of this in the house, and the lilies are often presented at a height perfect for a cat to brush against as it stalks across the mantelpiece.

Although, modifying a comment in Dr Donaldson's poisonous plants talk last month, I might make myself unpopular by suggesting that there is one type of cat around which you can happily grow lilies - specifically, a cat that you do not like ...