There is a common thread amongst prairie-bred lilies
- they are the finest garden performing lilies for our
climate, no question. We receive many requests
for lilies bred by the folks mentioned to the right
of this column, for very good reason. The lilies
grown and bred here, will, for the most part, still
be in your garden for your grandchildren to enjoy 20
years from now. One breeder, Mr.
Alex Burnett, says this of his first visit to a
lily field in July 1985. (The field belonged
to Fred Fellner.)
"It is impossible to describe the beauty and
calmness of being surrounded by two acres of lilies
in full bloom on a hot, calm, July afternoon under blue
Alberta skies. The only noise caused by the hummingbirds
and butterflies enjoying the voluptuous beauty of the
masses of lilies."
He got that one right didn't he? There is also
a common thread which I find runs rampant through lily
breeders, and that is their generous natures.
Alex noticed this as well when he first began to get
involved in the 'lily world', saying that 'breeding
lilies seems to breed friendships as well'. To
read more about Alex Burnett and his breeding accomplishments
click here.
We hope to collect as much information as possible,
along with lists of lilies bred, (registered or unregistered)
by our favorite lily enthusiast, the Canadian Hybridizers.
In keeping with the generous natures exhibited by these
fine folks, the information we collect will be posted
here on this web for the enjoyment of lily lovers everywhere.
We hope that by making this information readily
available, particularly the lists of named lilies, it
will help preserve some of the fine work done by these
folks, and prevent further losses, so we may all enjoy
them for many, many years to come. We also believe
gardeners can use this as a reference when shopping
for lilies as there is no doubt Canadian-bred lilies
perform best in our climate. If you have information
to share with us, please contact
us!
We have not posted information on all those listed,
but stay in touch, we will as we get it compiled and
written! One other note...we have tried to include
a complete listing of lilies bred and/or registered
by each breeder on their respective pages, with the
RHS registry used as a reference. The year of
registration is in brackets following the named lily,
often with a person's name included. This is the
name of the person who registered the lily on behalf
of the breeder. It is often not known that a lily
has been grown for up to 15 years before it is actually
registered. Most breeders do this to ensure a
lily meets or exceeds their growing expectations before
introduction. In the future perhaps we will add
this information to each listing to help in referencing.
We have also included the classification info where
known, at the end of each entry, also in brackets.
