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.

Edison & Ford Winter Estates: Part I

Southwest Florida has a long history of harboring people from cold northern winters. Thomas Edison, the famed inventor, found his way to Fort Myers where he bought property along the bank of the Caloosahatchee River in 1885, the same year the city was incorporated. Edison and his wife Mina built a home together to share with family and friends.

This statue of Edison stands in front of a ficus bhengalensis ‘banyan tree’.

Harvey Firestone gave Edison the tree in 1925 when it was only four feet tall. Today the banyan tree covers about an acre of land. At the time, Edison along with Firestone and Henry Ford were researching various botanicals for a domestic source of rubber.

The banyan tree is known as an epiphyte, a plant that grows on other plants or structures, sending roots down to the ground where the roots then grow  into multiple trunks.

Crinum asiaticum - ‘Tree Crinum’

Behind this beautiful perennial with its gorgeous flowers is Edison’s Seminole Lodge Guesthouse.

Another shot of the guesthouse behind royal palm trunks with the main house behind it. Deep porches surround both dwellings creating a cool environment for a time before modern air conditioning.

This petrea volubilis ‘Queen’s Wreath’ vine grows on the pergola that connects the two dwellings.

These two very old podocarpus, covered in Spanish moss, frame the walkway up to the back of the main house.

Mina created the Moonlight Garden in 1929. Designed by Ellen Biddle-Shipman, a renowned landscape architect of the time, the bright flowers and pool were intended to reflect moonlight.

Edison’s Little Office sits next to the garden on the original location of his laboratory. The laboratory was moved north to Ford’s museum in Dearborn, MI in 1928.

On the property is a cycad garden. Cycads are often confused with palms or ferns due to their evergreen pinnate leaves. They tend to be male or female, were prevalent during the Jurassic period and can live for hundreds of years.

Dioon edule (male) with old cone.

Encephalartos bubalinus with new cones.

Dioon spinulosom - ‘Giant Dioon’ (female)

Dioon spinulosom - ‘Giant Dioon’ (male)

Encephalartos horridus xlongifolius - ‘Ferocious Blue Cycad’

Join me next time as I tour more of the estate grounds and see the Florida State tree-a cabbage palm, a Mysore fig, a 1929 Ford Model A, and get a glimpse of Henry Ford's winter retreat The Mangoes. You can find out more about the Edison & Ford Winter Estates here.