Stargazer

I love lilies - definitely my favourite flower. And my favourite of these favourites is the showy Stargazer. I just love those brash blooms of vibrant pink, speckled with dark ruby spots. And those ochre stamens, so heavy with an unforgiving pollen that I’m reluctantly obliged to cut them away before something precious is inevitably stained. 

As often is the case, the process of photography makes me look at them afresh. I don’t think I’ve ever realised how those ruby spots are like raised welts, a decorative scarification that intensifies from petal tip to flower centre; and how where petal meets pistil, jagged teeth-like protrusions seem to rise up to protect. The gentle lily clearly has a hidden strength and toughness. 

And then there is the fragrance; a tropical headiness that permeates the entire house. I grow them in the garden, always hoping against hope that their bloom coincides with balmy summer evenings when we can sit outside, sipping chilled wine and breathing in their gorgeousness, but of course this seldom happens.





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