frederick and cecilia winters settled in the bellevue area in 1916, purchasing a small holly farm and later a farm in the mercer slough. the winters raised azaleas for sale in the midwest and east coast in several greenhouses on the property, which was expanded by in the early 1920s to support bulb farming. frederick winters raised "narcissus", dutch irises, and spanish irises, profiting from the national quarantine of imported bulbs that was in place from 1926 to 1938.