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MRS. LEE'S GARDEN
Derrick and Gina BrutonGladewater, Texas
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Most people have never heard of it...yet those who have, believe it is a private paradise tucked away among the East Texas landscape. It is considered to be the best kept secret in East Texas. Mrs. Lee's Garden is a 1,000-acre working cattle ranch that goes through a dramatic transformation every February and March. Each spring the ranch becomes a golden haven of beauty. Thousands, perhaps millions of golden daffodils are scattered over some 20 acres along a four mile trail that meanders through the estate. It is a sight that leaves visitors in awe.
How all of this beauty came about involves the classic rags to riches story. T. W. Lee and his wife Helen were both raised in the country and had very little to their names when they were married. However, he had an entrepreneur spirit which eventually led him to the oil business. Almost overnight, because of the great East Texas oil boom, the Lee's had more money than they could fathom. They came to Gladewater and began to help develop the town. Mr. Lee purchased land outside of town for its gravel content in order to pave the roads, airport runway, and rodeo parking lot in Gladewater. Mr. Lee also established the town's first newspaper and radio station.
Mr. Lee died in 1954 leaving his wife as his only namesake. Mrs. Lee missed her husband tremendously. In order to fill a void in her life, she turned to gardening. Mrs. Lee loved the land that her husband purchased so much that she bought adjoining land until they amassed over 1,000 acres. She took this raw land and transformed it into a budding paradise; converting the gravel pits into a 15-acre lake and a 3-acre pond. Both of these were stocked with bass, perch, and catfish, while surrounded by abundant wildlife of all kinds... deer, wild turkey, all types of birds, snakes, a bobcat and mountain lion.
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Within the fences of the ranch is a lesson of history, a lesson on God's wonders in nature and beauty for all people to see and enjoy. Mrs. Lee had heard that our climate is similar to that of Holland's, and knew that they were notorious for their large fields of daffodils. With this in mind and the finances left behind from her late husband, Mrs. Lee decided to think big. She ordered over I million bulbs from the Netherlands that arrived at Gladewater's depot in an entire boxcar.
When all at once I saw a crowd,
A host, of golden daffodils;
Beside the lake, beneath the trees,
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.
--William Wordsworth
A story that's told by some is that Mrs. Lee ordered a box of bulbs but received a boxcar of bulbs instead. However, Mrs. Lee knew exactly what she was doing. Since Mrs. Lee became an instant "valued customer", the company from which she purchased the bulbs sent a representative to Gladewater to assist in the proper planting techniques and care of the flowers.
She selected the hardiest varieties in order
to withstand our drastic temperature fluctuations.
Mrs. Lee along with about 40 workers planted the
bulbs over several years.
To add to the setting, she had a one room pioneer log cabin replica constructed. It rests overlooking the 3-acre pond named Lake Josephine, after her mother. This is where she enjoyed spending quiet time--with her flowers and with nature.
Mrs. Lee survived her husband by thirty years and died in July of 1984. At her request the garden was opened to the public in the spring following her death. Mrs. Lee established the Helen Lee Foundation to oversee the care and management of the estate. Three board members preside over the foundation. The foundation is set up as a non-profit corporation and operates off of oil revenue and an annuity left by Mrs. Lee.
The foundation was established not only to maintain itself, but to assist others outside of the farm. This is a direct reflection on the kind of person Mrs. Lee was--unselfish. She assisted many relatives and local kids with college expenses, had flowers sent to the local hospital each week for each room, and left this beautiful place for others to view and enjoy free of charge. A neighbor once wrote that even though Mrs. Lee did these things, "she doesn't want praise for anything she does".
The following is an excerpt from the bylaws of the Helen Lee Foundation:
After the daffodils' seasonal demise, Mrs. Lee's floral show goes on with almost an acre of jonquils, which bloom in March.
The garden has since been recognized in numerous local newspaper articles, in the February 1992 issue of Texas Highways, and by Joan Hallmark's Proud of East Texas news segment.
The garden opens, depending on Mother Nature, around the middle of February and remains open through the first or second week in March. The garden's ability to open depends upon two things:
