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laurie_z3_mb

Trip to Neepawa

Laurie_z3_MB
17 years ago

Yesterday evening I went with the Westman Gardeners on a trip to Neepawa and I thought I'd share some pics with you all. Today is the start of Neepawa's Lily Festival and the whole town is decorated for the occasion.

Of course, our first stop was at the the Lily Nook for some drooling, ah, I mean viewing ;^)

Here's a small growing bed.

And another small portion of the growing beds(they have acres and acres).

Of course you simply can't go to the Lily Nook and not bring home a souviner, so a 'Red Dutch' orienpet, 'Fancy Crown' oriental x asiatic, and a 'Brim Cup' hosta jumped on the bus with me ;^)

Here's a couple of lilies that have made it onto my wish list as well.

Dot Com

and Kentucky

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From here, we went into Neepawa and viewed some of the gardens that just happen to have a few lilies in them.

This rudbeckia really caught my eye too. It was a HUGE clump.

Hope you enjoyed this virtual tour. Pictures really don't do justice to the beauty of this town at this time of year. If you're planning to be even remotely in this area on the weekend, I highly recommend going out and touring the gardens.

Laurie

Comments (20)

  • cailinriley
    17 years ago

    Wow. Neepawa is a bit too far from me for a weekend trip, but I sure appreciate the virtual tour. Those gardens look fantastic this time of year.

    'Dot Com' looks even better in your photo than in catalogues. And 'Kentucky' made me drool all over my keyboard!! My wish list is becoming unmanageable! I'd better start buying...

    I'm also going to have to put a rudbeckia or two in the garden next year.

    Thanks, Laurie!

  • northspruce
    17 years ago

    Drool drool drool... LOL Great pics Laurie, thanks for sharing. I was thinking the same thing about Dot.com looking even better than the catalogues!

    I just realized when you posted, that my Red Dutch didn't come up!! I didn't notice because I planted it near my Black Outs which produced multiple stems... so it didn't seem lacking. Boo! :-(

  • Laurie_z3_MB
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Yes, I've seen Dot Com in catalogues before, and they didn't wow me like they did in person.

    Ahh, that sucks that your Red Dutch didn't come up Gillian. Sure hope mine makes it thru the winter.....now you've got me worried!

    Glad you both liked the tour. But oh, you should have smelled the trumpets.............just heavenly!

  • northspruce
    17 years ago

    Well it wasn't the winter, I just planted it this spring. But I have heard sometimes if the bulb is stressed or moved, it can just skip a year and might actually show up next year. Hope so!

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    17 years ago

    Now i can't wait for my Dot Com to open up - i'll have to go out and do a "lily opening" dance on Sunday morning! :>

  • Crazy_Gardener
    17 years ago

    Laurie, thanks for sharing your day!

    In the Lily Nook photo, what are they using to mulch their rows, is that grass clippings? I donÂt see one weed, they must have lots of people working for them? LOL
    So you did get ÂFancy CrownÂ, youÂll love it, so far itÂs my favourite ;) IÂm sure in the years to come, they have more and more Oriental x Asiatic to choose from.

    My ÂDotCom and ÂKentucky should be blooming any day now, IÂll take photos when they do ;)

    I really like that Rudbeckia, you wouldnÂt happen to know the name, its gorgeous!

    Sharon

  • Laurie_z3_MB
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    Brenda and I were also looking at the mulch between the rows and we think it's flax straw that they use. It does seem to keep most of the weeds down, but we did manage to see a few weeds here and there;^) So there ya go Marcia, if the Lily Nook isn't weed free, you shouldn't expect your yard to be either for the tour tomorrow!lol

    Sorry, the name of that Rudbeckia wasn't posted in that garden, but it was a lovely one. In some of the gardens, plants were labelled, but not that one unfortuneatly.

    I should have a flower opening up on Fancy Crown soon, maybe even later today. I hope it's scented!

    Gillian, hopefully your Red Dutch is just napping and will show up again later.

  • Crazy_Gardener
    17 years ago

    Laurie, I've seen Flax straw, nice stuff.... I guess I should ask around who grows flax around here.

    Oh btw, I have future plans for a huge field just for Lilies, Daylilies, Iris's and Peonies. They will be all in rows just like The Lily Nook. First I have to Weed Wack it back, then Round Up and rotertill, hopefully it will be done by next spring so that I can start planting ;)

    I didn't realize that 'Fancy Crown' is supposed to be scented, I'll have go put my nose up to it tomorrow ;)

    Sharon

  • Laurie_z3_MB
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    I stuck my nose into Fancy Crown and I can detect a hint of fragrance. Nothing like a true oriental though. I just thought that with the oriental in it's lineage that it may have a scent. Oh well. But mine seems to have extra petals. I posted a pic in the lily thread of it.

    So with this big field in the works, are you planning on giving up your day job and going into plant sales maybe? I'm sure you've got enough plant material to start one heck of a nursery by now ;^)

  • Crazy_Gardener
    17 years ago

    That's my plan Laurie ;)

  • valleyrimgirl
    17 years ago

    I finally downloaded my camera and have a few more pictures for you all to see of our Westman Gardeners trip to Neepawa.

    We booked the HagBag Junkets, a van that is equipped to hold about 22 people, to take us to Neepawa.

    {{gwi:715737}}

    When we got to the Lily Nook this is what we saw. Behind the sign are rows and rows of lilies mixed with a few peonies and other perennials.

    {{gwi:700778}}

    Because they knew months ago that we were coming, we made arrangements with them to have the gift store remain open longer than their normal hours of business. Normally they close at 7pm but that night stayed open until we left. Beside the gift shop are rows and rows of potted, labelled and blooming lilies. Each are individually priced. It was hard not to walk away with a whole arm full.

    {{gwi:715740}}

    There were so many lilies to see. I also took pictures of individual lilies just like Laurie did. This is Moxie.

    {{gwi:715745}}

    This caught my eye also. It is called Elecric.

    {{gwi:715749}}

    Nigel Strohman, one of the owners of the Lily Nook, took us through some of the daylilies that they are growing. Laurie and I really liked the one called Lace Babydoll. He said that that one was mislabeled and therefore if there was one potted up that he would give it to us at half price. We found one that had 2 fans, one for Laurie and one for me. Then, since the name is definitely not Lace Babydoll, we thought we would rename our daylily in honor of the wonderful trip to Neepawa that we had and call it the HagBag Daylily. This is a picture of our HagBag Daylily.

    {{gwi:715752}}

    After going through the Lily Nook gift shop and all through their yard we enjoyed the other growing beds in Neepawa. We also took a slow drive through the Neepawa Cemetary. I did not take any pictures there but it was absolutely beautiful. They have planted up petunias on all the graves with the perpetual care. This year being a great year to grow petunias because of the heat made the cemetary a beautiful place to visit. It is also special to me because my DH's Mom and Dad are both buried there as well as his grandparents, great grandparents and other family members.

    Here is another picture of the huge patch of rudbeckia that Laurie and I saw in the Gertrude Williams Park.

    {{gwi:715758}}

    It was a beautiful sunny day and we really enjoyed ourselves. If any of you ever have a chance to go to Neepawa in July definitely go to the Lily Nook and thru the flowerbeds...

  • Laurie_z3_MB
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    You got some really good pictures Brenda! It's kind of odd for a cemetary to be a tourist attraction, but when I told my DH that we drove thru it, he said(with his eyes rolling) that yes, when he was a kid, whenever they were in Neepawa, his dad always had to take them for a drive thru it. It really is so well kept with all the flowers.

  • Crazy_Gardener
    17 years ago

    Yes, thanks for sharing your photos too Brenda, I wish I was with yah gals on that trip, looks like it was a fun trip!

    That patch of rudbeckia's is stunning, I wish I knew the name???

    Love the HagBag Daylily!

    Moxie kind of looks like Centerfold, there are so many of those brushmark lilies nowadays ;)

    Again, thanks for the photos, I love tours!

    Sharon

  • Laurie_z3_MB
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    So Sharon, will you be opening your nursery next year? Or will it be year after? How exciting to turn a hobby into a livelyhood! It makes going to work so much more fun. Are you thinking of mail order, or just local sales?

  • Crazy_Gardener
    17 years ago

    ThatÂs my plan Laurie, I doubt very much that I will ever be high scale operational like The Lily Nook or ValleyK, however I have to start somewhere and IÂm sure thatÂs how they started too with one field at a time.

    I figure I could grow and sell hardy field grown divisions of Lilies, Daylilies, IrisÂs and Peonies, perhaps own root roses too to the local people around here, as well via mail orders. I have the space so why not use it? My plan is to have a decent amount of inventory in about 3-5 years and just maybe, I can retire from my other job early ;)

    For local competitor merchants, not much around here, unless folks want to buy from Walmart which will be ready at the end of the year and a greenhouse nursery down the road, althou she doesnÂt sell field grown plants.

    As well, my motto will be no mislabeled plants! ;) LOL

    Sharon

  • Laurie_z3_MB
    Original Author
    17 years ago

    That sounds like a wonderful plan Sharon. Yes, if you do have the space, like you said, why not?! It sounds like you may be filling a niche there too, if there aren't many nurseries around.

    You definitely have the knowledge, the love of plants and know how good customer service should be, so I'm positive that things will go extremely well for you. Good luck!

  • Crazy_Gardener
    17 years ago

    Dear Laurie, thanks for your boost of confidence, Hugs!

  • northspruce
    17 years ago

    Wow Sharon, that is so exciting!! I know you will succeed because you will know and love what you do. Imagine... being able to quit your job... aaah! And to make extra money to increase your stock, well that's what you would have been buying anyway LOL.

    Better send all the daylilies to you that you don't already have so they can get multiplying hee hee...

  • marciaz3 Tropical 3 Northwestern Ontario
    17 years ago

    And maybe she'll be able to hire someone to deadhead all those petunias! LOL

    You'll do great, Sharon - you're already a terrible enabler, so you can guess who will be your best customers! :D

  • Crazy_Gardener
    17 years ago

    OH YES PLEASE Gil, I'll look after them ;)

    Sharon

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