Dee Anne Beckman opened a sliding door and led me into a cooler that was the size of a bank vault and cold as cash.
Which was appropriate, given that it was the Easter lily room at Tagawa Gardens, a sprawling nursery off South Parker Road in Centennial.
This is high season for Lilium longiflorum. The flower is the traditional centerpiece in millions of church sanctuaries on Easter Sunday.
That’s a lot of lilies — and big money for florists.
Beckman, a sunny woman who is Tagawa’s tropical-plant horticulturist, showed off one of her prizes. Its feathery leaves were deep green, the six waxy, white buds in tight sheaths.
“It’s 42 degrees in here, but as soon as these plants hit the warm air, two of these blossoms will be open within the hour,” Beckman said. “Aren’t they lovely?”
But — and excuse me here, I have to sneeze — is the Easter lily’s popularity waning?
It might sound like heresy in the flower biz, but Beckman said lily sales have declined for the past couple of Easters.
“Lots of congregations are turning to other flowers because lilies have so much pollen and such a powerful aroma,” Beckman said. “One thing I’ve found is that a lot of older people don’t like the lilies because they’re so sensitive to them.”
Not that the Easter lily is in need of resurrection. It remains enormously popular.
But many congregations have decided the holiest day on the Christian calendar does not need to be marked by sneezing and red, watery eyes.
Beckman can relate. She’s allergic to lilies, which I suppose is the horticultural equivalent of a chef who breaks out in hives around garlic.
So churches are buying other types of flowers for their Easter services. Popular choices include daffodils, orchids, azaleas, cineraria and red cyclamens, whose bloodlike hue is appreciated for its symbolic value.
“We’re also selling a lot of chrysanthemums to churches, since we can grow them in all sorts of pastel spring colors,” Beckman said.
She walked to her desk and began flipping through the sales records. Lilies were taking it on the chin.
“Epiphany Lutheran in Castle Rock usually orders dozens of lilies but only ordered 10 this year,” Beckman said.
“Joy Lutheran in Parker is getting three lilies but 12 mums.”
Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in Englewood remains loyal to the lily. Tagawa Gardens will deliver 85 lilies to the church, most blooming in 6-inch pots.
“We’re sticking with the lily,” said Maurice Martin, the church’s executive pastor. “We do have a lot of people who are pretty traditional in expressing their faith, so the flowers are kind of expected.”
Martin said the church does try to accommodate folks with sensitive snoots: “We pull the stamens from the blossoms to keep the pollen down.”
Lilies might be a miracle of botanical beauty, but growing them commercially is an exact science. They need to be brought just to the cusp of blooming for Easter.
Given that Easter arrives March 23 this year, growers had to plant their lily beds three to four weeks earlier than normal.
The lilies performed on cue.
“They’re pretty amazing plants,” Beckman said.
Even if they make for a three- hankie service.
William Porter writes Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Reach him at 303-954-1977 or wporter@denverpost.com.
