THE ORIGIN OF SMILEY S 
WATER GARDENS 
A bouquet of "Comanches" 
• Having always been a lover of flowers, I first became interested in 
water lilies after reading an article in the American Magazine many 
years ago. Studying the situation over I came to the conclusion that 
Beaver Crossing with its abundant supply of artesian water would be an 
ideal place to propogate water lilies. I purchased a small tract of land 
and constructed some concrete pools and then began to look for the 
varieties of lilies I wished to stock. My original stock came from various 
sources in the United States and some from foreign countries. It was not 
long till I realized that my business was out growing the size of my pools. 
Additional land was then added until I now have one of the largest 
water gardens in the United States. 
WE CROW THE BEST 
• Abundance in blossom is the one thing I demand of all my lilies. Prac¬ 
tically all of the lilies that are shy in bloom have been discarded and re¬ 
placed with new and better varieties. No new varities have been listed 
in my catalogue until they have first been given a thorough trial as to 
their sturdiness, formation of blossoms, duration of bloom, and distinc¬ 
tiveness of color. 
WHY OUR LILIES ARE OF THE BEST 
• All Hardy Water Lilies should become dormant for a rest period of a 
few months. In many of the warmer climates the lilies must be dug and 
forced dormant whereas in this section of the United States lilies go 
dormant naturally and then start growing when the first warm days 
appear. All bulbs shipped from our gardens are taken from the pools at 
the time of shipping and are in a growing stage when shipped. There is no 
delay in them putting out new leaves almost immediately after you plant 
them and it is only a matter of a few short weeks until the blossoms 
start to come and continue throughout the season. 
