The Lily King

The small prairie town of Neepawa, Manitoba is now claimed to be the World Lily Capital thanks to the work and passion of one man known as the Lily King: Barrie Strohman. As a contractor, the houses he built formed communities and neighbourhoods for multiple families, but it is his passion for the "poor man’s orchid," the Lily, that has transformed this Prairie town’s spirit. An accomplished hybridizer, Strohman has dedicated himself to developing and growing over 2,000 named varieties of the flower at his nursery known as the Lily Nook, and his excitement and passion for the flower has been spread to the community as volunteers beautify the town with thousands of Lily beds and the birth of the annual National Lily Festival.