The Lily King

At The Lily Nook, over 2000 named varieties are grown spanning all nine divisions of the genus lilium (Asiatics and Tetraploids; Maragons; Trumpets and Aurelians; Orientals; Orienpets, Asiapets, and L.A. Hybrids; and Species) with up to 30,000 seedlings in various stages of growth. Bulbs are distributed around the world.

Prior to starting up The Lily Nook, visitors would often come by to view the myriad of blooms that Barrie was propagating. Once the catalogue was produced and distributed, the visitors ranked in the hundreds, and they had to extend their lily ‘visiting hours’ to a month period when the lilies were in full bloom. It was this steady stream of visitors that prompted the birth of Canada’s Lily Festival. 2006 marks the 10th Anniversary for this internationally attended festival; visitors from at least 41 countries have been noted, and the North American Bus Tour Association has designated the Festival as one of the top 100 events in North America. Barrie’s passion for lilies has spread throughout the community, with lilies being planted on municipal land, in the yards of businesses, and residents alike. Harrowsmith Magazine has designated Neepawa as one of the ten prettiest towns in Canada. In 1997, 6000 Lily Nook and Festival visitors were attracted to Neepawa, a town of 3300. Now, the town is host to around 12000 lily appreciators. Community spirit is high, with 10% of the town’s population actively volunteering to ensure the festival’s success.

With all the hub-bub and international exposure, Barrie’s business remains family run, and family oriented. His son Nigel takes care of the business side of The Lily Nook including distributing bulbs globally; his wife Joyce and daughter Corinne manage the gift store, and his grand-daughters look after the canteen that offers cold drinks and ice cream to the visitors who stop in to view the lilies.

Having retired from his career of building homes and constructing farm buildings in 1993, he planned to enjoy his ‘hobby’ of hybridizing varieties of lilies of the lilium genus, the Liliacean family. Barrie was also looking forward to serving a term as president of the North American Lily Society. In 1995, urged by family members (“It’s about time you DID something about those lilies”), his hobby blossomed into a family run business, “The Lily Nook”. This business became the cornerstone for the inception of the Neepawa Lily Festival in 1996, re-designated Canada’s Lily Festival in 2004.

His passion for lilies was sown as a child. As he recalls: “I remember picking wild fruit with my grandmother and having her point out different native fruits and shrubs and having her identify various wildflowers in bloom. At that early time, I was admonished not to pick the prairie lily for my wildflower bouquets”.

Barrie moved his grandparent’s house to the land where he now tends his ten acres of lily growing fields. Several lilies that he has hybridized have been named and registered with the Royal Horticultural Society in England with several more promising ones being selected for release.

Barrie Strohman’s list of his Ten Most Favourite Lilies:
1. A lily in its natural setting.
2. A lily used in landscape design.
3. A lily that perfumes the evening air.
4. A lily in an arrangement.
5. A lily with vigorous growth.
6. A lily that has a long bloom time.
7. A Grandpa lily, or could be a Grandma lily (though being a Grandpa, he is partial to that term…)
8. A lily that is a good hybridizer.
9. A lily that needs little attention.
10. A lily that is one of my own seedlings.