Tucked away in the rolling countryside 10 minutes south of Gladewater is East Texas’ answer to the bluebonnets of the Texas Hill Country. Daffodils! Yellow and white daffodils… by the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.
There are some who believe when Mrs. Helen Lee ordered a box of daffodil bulbs from Holland many years ago that she wasn’t expecting the box car load that arrived in East Texas, that she really was just ordering a box of bulbs.
No matter, whether or not she ordered the box car full of bulbs, it has worked out just fine for the thousands of visitors that find their way off the beaten path each February and March to what is now known as Mrs. Lee’s Daffodil Garden.
We’ll leave telling the history up to their website but on the beautiful sunlit day we visited, there were cars lined up for well over a mile waiting to get into the 800-plus acre ranch.
It’s more of a display of natural grandeur than it is a garden. Visitors take a four mile tour by car on a rolling and winding dirt road and there are parking areas and pathways to ease the stroll among the flowers.
It’s pretty hard to take a bad picture and thus cameras are everywhere, with parents and grandparents taking pictures of the younger family members.
There’s an old saying in the country that relates to the daffodil garden. “Lord willing and the creek don’t rise…” you’ll get there.
Rain and high water can make the roads impassable so if you intend to drive a fair distance, call ahead. (903-845-5780)… and the tour is free.
Mrs. Lee passed away in 1984 and the facility is managed by the Helen Lee Foundation.