Forrest became interested in lilies when he and his wife, Mary, attended the 2003 NALS Show in Bloomington, Minnesota.  They joined NSLS that day and the lily collecting began!  Over the next few years, Forrest became active in NSLS by volunteering as librarian and other activities.  He did some crosses in 2006 and soon had not only many named lilies but also hundreds of seedlings. 

Since then, Forrest’s involvement in NSLS has included serving as a director, treasurer, vice president, president, bulb committee chair, judge and other roles.  In 2013 he led the project to build the permanent Minnesota Hybridizers’ Garden in Arneson Acres in Edina, Minnesota.  This garden is home to about 100 Minnesota hybridized lily varieties.  A member of the NSLS Speakers Bureau, Forrest has given talks to groups throughout Minnesota.  Forrest is also a NALS member and served one term as a NALS director.  

In 2013, Forrest and his friend Bill Bauer had both run out of room for lilies in their respective suburban yards, and decided to lease additional land.  Just outside the Twin Cities, a rented plot called “LilyLand” now is home to thousands of lilies, most of them hybridized seedlings. 

In 2015, Forrest and Bill bought some martagon lily bulb stock and started LilyLand Minnesota which sells martagon bulbs to lily societies and garden centers wholesale.  LilyLand Minnesota martagons and the hybridization programs are now competing for space at LilyLand!

In 2018, Forrest registered an Asiatic pink and yellow lily, ‘Bullwinkle,’ his first registered lily.  Since then, eight others have followed: ‘Crème Tangerine,’ ‘Whirlaway,’ ‘Fountain of Youth,’ 'Mary Ellen,' 'Argo,' 'James Joseph,' 'Alice in Toyland,' and the Aurelian 'Jenn.'

Photos are the property of the North Star Lily Society