Un- Temperamental Beauties 
Tue hundreds of thousands of at ie 
waterlilies that seem to have trans- The Lilies That Took 
formed a portion of lower Frederick 
County, Maryland, into a tropical val- Care of Them se Ives 
ley have taken care of themselves, to 
a large extent, while the rest of Three 
Springs Fisheries has been busy grow- —And Still Do 
ing up. 
The waterlily is a thrice beautiful 
flower. Esthetically, it has no bet- 
ters. Its beauty is surpassed by none 
other. As a cultivated product it has | 
few equals. By nature it is a vigor- si 
ous, robust plant that demands only 
the bare essentials—sun, quiet water, ~*~ 
and good soil—in which to assert it- 
self. It requires no raking, hoeing or 
any of the other usual attentions of 
cultivation. 
The flower has the added virtue of a 
long blooming season — frequently 
from early May until the first frost. 
Three Springs waterlilies spread in 
popularity almost as quickly as did 
that of the fisheries’ goldfish. Fore- 
seeing this probability, the operators 
of the fisheries prepared early for lily 
expansion, too. For more than three 
decades now they have picked and 
chosen and crossed strains of lilies, 
modifying some characteristics, em- 
phasizing others, until they have 
built up stocks to supply 100 different 
varieties of waterlilies, each variety 
being of proven, dependable strain. 
Of these varieties, 75 are of the 
hardy type. Hardy lilies are day 
bloomers, the easiest to grow, the 
earliest bloomers, and probably the 
more popular among most water gar- 
den enthusiasts. They open shortly 
after sunrise and close their blooms 
in the afternoon. Many of them are 
quite fragrant. They are of every 
known color, tint and shade except 
blue. 
The other 25 varieties grown at the 
fisheries are tropical lilies, which 
manifest themselves in every color. 
Many are night bloomers. Fewer 
tropicals are fragrant. Being annuals, 
they require slightly more care than 
the hardy lilies. 
The fisheries ship out cut lilies— 
for long-lasting flower arrange- 
Gathering lily clusters from a typical crop for the cut-flower 
trade. The blossom, for all its beauty, has great stamina. ments—as well as lily collections in- 
tended for replanting. 
Three Springs Fisheries, Lilypons, Maryland 
