Garden Cleaning and Staining

Yesterday I decided to clean up the area under my bird feeder. I have been letting the garden around the gate to my back yard grow a little wild. It’s an accepted practice in gardening. They style is called “cottage garden”. I’ve enjoyed it, but the plants have grown so bushy that I can’t see the birds as they eat from my bird feeder.

I was brutal as I cleared the area. I completely removed some plants; others I cut to the ground; and I pulled out a TON of sprouted birdseed plants. But it is clean now, and I can now see the birds pick at the ground while I look out my kitchen window.

I have some really tall lilies growing in that area. The flowers are thick and wax-like, and they have a delicious scent. They had fallen over from their own weight, so I lifted up all the stems and tied them together. It took a lot of wrangling. I forgot that lilies are known to have lots of pollen – lots of pollen that stains. I was covered.

I showered afterward, but the pollen didn’t come off. It had stained my skin yellow. It was all over my face. Fortunately, I had no plans to go out last night. Also fortunately, the stains were gone this morning. My shirt is another matter. If my research on the internet is to be believed, leaving my shirt in the sun will make the pollen stains vanish. I’ll have to give it a try.