Edison & Ford Winter Estates: Part II

In Edison & Ford Winter Estates: Part I we explored some of the many plants Thomas Edison and his wife Mina planted at their winter home, Seminole Lodge, in  Fort Myers, FL. His good friend Henry Ford would often visit and in 1916 purchased the property next door, The Mangoes, named after the many mango trees on the property.

Here is a statue of Ford in front of shell ginger.

Ford's winter home is a Craftsman bungalow. You can see a bit of Edison's winter home, Seminole Lodge, behind the mango trees on the right.

Thomas Edison and his wife Mina planted many things to make their estate attractive and comfortable for their family and guests. Edison had 1.5 miles of royal palms brought in from Cuba to line McGregor Blvd. in front of the estate. Fort Myers is known as the City of Palms and the royal palms now stretch for seven miles along the boulevard.

Two rows of royal palms line the walkway up to the back of The Mangoes.

Of course, there are many other palms on the grounds. These three Archontophoenix alexandrae ‘King Palm’ are from Australia.

Elaeis guineensis ‘African Oil Palm’ is from West and Central Africa.

Sabal palmetto ‘Cabbage Palm’ is a native and the state tree of Florida.

Bismarkia nobilis ‘Bismark Palm’ is from Madagascar.

The Caloosahatchee River flows behind the properties and is shaded by a variety of trees. Edison loved to fish and this was a great place to catch tarpon.

Edison researched many botanicals to find a domestic  source of rubber. One such tree was this ficus drupacea ‘Mysore Fig’ or ‘Brown Wooly Fig’ found in China, SE Asia and India. It has an incredible root system.

Epidendrum radicans ‘Ground Orchid’ is a bright lovely orchid.

Plumeria sp. 'Frangipani' is a small tree that looses its leaves during the dry season. The long leaves start to appear in March or April and beautiful blooms follow and continue till December.

Caesalpinia pulcherrima 'Rosea' or 'Dwarf Ponciana' has fern-like leaves and brilliant blooms that start to bloom in March and soon dominate the tree's canopy lasting through the rainy season.

Visiting Ford’s winter estate wouldn’t be complete without some antique cars. On the left is a 1929 Ford Model A and next to it a 1917 Ford Model TT Truck.

1919 Model T Ford, can you imagine driving this?

You can learn more by visiting Edison and Ford Winter Estates. Next time we'll explore the Park of Palms in downtown Fort Myers.