Tropical Florida Gardens

Just as Thomas Edison created experimental botanical gardens related to his rubber research, the Edison & Ford Winter Estates has created an experimental botanical ‘Trials’ Garden to determine the sun tolerance and growth patterns for eight varieties of Coleus and seven Caladium species.

The Coleus is a tropical plant that was popular in Europe during the late 1800s and was a perfect choice for Victorian Gardens.  They were used by Mrs. Edison as a border or container plant providing beautiful foliage colors without flowers.

Dr. Henry Nehrling, who visited Mr. Edison at his Fort Myers estate, also created experimental gardens and introduced 300 new and beneficial plants to the Florida landscape including Caladiums.  There are now thousands of Caladium varieties that are grown for their long lasting and colorful foliage. They are available in many shades of red, pink, white and green.

The Trials Garden is located in the Edison Ford Heritage Garden next to the Museum and is free to the public.  All of the plants in the Trials Garden are available for purchase in the Edison Ford Garden Shoppe, so you can grow them in your own Trials Garden in your home landscape.

Todd Roy, Edison Ford Horticulturist & Garden Shoppe Manager

As I strolled through the garden Saturday I came across the first ripe Mango of the season.  The Southern Blush variety is an early season variety, but doesn’t disappoint on flavor.

The gardens at the Edison Ford contain over a dozen different varieties of Mangoes.  They range from early season to mid season to late season varieties like the Keitt Mango.  An early season favorite of mine is Bailey’s Marvel, a large Mango with great flavor, beautiful colors and very little fiber.  We also have a variety called Kent that is velvety smooth with no fiber and excellent flavor.  The local growers favor the Valencia Pride Mango, a large oblong shaped Mango with a sweet flavor.  If you’re a little tight on space, consider planting a dwarf variety like Pickering that can be kept at about six to eight feet tall.

Come down and visit our Garden Shoppe and see the many varieties of Mango and fruit trees we have available.  One of our horticulturists can explain some of the different Mango types and answer any questions you might have.

 If you’re looking for something to do with your mangoes, here’s a great recipe from my own kitchen:

Mango & Black Bean Salad

• 1 15.8 ounce can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups mango, diced
• 1 cup sweet red bell pepper, diced
• ½ cup red onion,
• 1/4 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 seeded Jalapeno pepper, minced or hot sauce to taste (optional)
• Salt to taste

Preparation:  Combine all ingredients, including beans in bowl. Toss and serve.

Related Edison Ford Blog Posts:  Mango Salsa Recipe, Mango Smoothie Recipe, Are All Mangoes Created Equal? Delicious Mango Varieties, Tips for Growing and Caring for Mango Trees, Tropical Fruit Trees That Grow Best in Southwest Florida

Friday, April 27, 2012 was National Arbor Day and to celebrate, the 1^st Grade students from Edison Park Elementary assisted the Estates staff in planting a new tree in our Heritage Garden.  The tree chosen for this years planting is a citrus variety called Orlando Tangelo.  Not only will we benefit from the shade of the tree, but also from the fruit that we will be able to harvest.

If you would like to learn more about citrus trees or purchase a tree for your own Arbor Day planting, stop by the Garden Shoppe and let us help you select the right tree for your yard.

Media Release – FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Chris Pendleton, President & CEO
Lisa Sbuttoni, PR/Marketing Director
293-334-7419
Photos:  Banana plants used as barriers at the Edison pool complex, photo by Manfred Behr; lettuce grows in the organic gardens at the Edison Ford.

Fort Myers, FL (April 9, 2012)The Edison & Ford Winter Estates is offering a new Garden and Estates Tour to answer the interest of visitors and community members who are interested in practical home gardening and in learning from the expertise from the horticulturalists at Edison Ford as well as the historic garden tips from the original families, the Edisons and Fords, who used the site very effectively a hundred years ago.

The new Garden & Estates Tour will be available rain or shine, every Tuesday at 10:30 a.m. and include the new organic garden areas, the propagating nursery, Garden Shoppe and of course 20 acres of historic gardens and homes on the river.  The gardens were recognized with the top  award from the National Garden Clubs Inc. for restoration as well as gardening expertise.  The horticulturalists at Edison Ford are also UF Master Gardeners and teachers.  The tour will include historic information and advice on planting and care, seed selection, home ‘victory’ gardens and sustainability and environmental concerns.

In the past few years, there has been a 20% increase in home gardening with a return to using vegetables, herbs and other edible plants in ornamental landscapes as well as installing family and community gardens to provide consumers with home grown food ready for the table.  “We notice more and more that our visitors want to know how to grow the same edible foods they see here at home.  They are interested in heritage seeds, organic substitutes for fertilizer and insect control, and practical growing tips that are ageless,” says Todd Roy, master gardener and Garden Shoppe manager. The Garden Shoppe is stocked with many proven varieties of plants that grow easily.

Both Edison and Ford also cultivated an edible landscape at their estates in Fort Myers including citrus, tropical fruits, vegetables and even a truck garden area.  Today, many of their larger trees still remain and are still bearing crops while others have been reintroduced throughout the site.  Visitors will be introduced to the bananas used as landscape barriers and used as a great food  source, dozens of varieties of mangoes both historical and new varieties, as well as a great variety of citrus that characterize the estates.

In addition to the historical gardens, the tour will also include useful areas like herb mounds, container and raised bed gardens.  Rain barrels, drip systems, worm castings, crab shell soil amendments, and unique mulch techniques will be seen throughout the site and many date back to practices of the two inventors and their families.

The garden and estates walking tour is about two hours in length and participants can also extend their tour with the audio wand tour of the property (available in English, German, French and Spanish).  Registration is not required.  Cost of the Garden and Estates Tour is $40 (groups may preregister for special times and fees) and Edison Ford Members are free.  The ticket includes the audio wand.   

The Edison Ford is open daily from 9:00 a.m. – 5:30 p.m. The Edison Ford is the winner of the 2009 National Stewardship Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and is an official project of “Save America’s Treasures” at the National Trust for Historic Preservation, a Florida Historic Landmark and a National Register Historic Site. For additional information call 239-334-7419 or visit the web site at www.edisonfordwinterestates.org.

The Edison & Ford Winter Estates  is growing many varieties of heirloom tomatoes in the organic vegetable garden.

Stop by and check it out for yourself and ask our horticulturists about their secrets to growing beautiful and tasty tomatoes.  You can also order heirloom seeds right from our website by clicking here.

Are you interested in learning more about Hydroponics? The Edison & Ford Winter Estates has added a new display using hydroponic gardening techniques.

What exactly is hydroponics?  Hydroponics is a method of gardening and growing plants in a mineral nutrient solution, in water, without soil medium.  Here,at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates, we are using a worm tea solution created by floating large tea bags filled with a worm casting media in water, then pumped through a series of tubes.  The plants are placed in the tubes, as the roots hang in the solution they absorb nutrients from the solution.   Hydroponics is a great way to produce edible crops, reduce pest and disease problems, reduce the need for expensive fertilizers, as well as speed up crop production.

Feel free to stop by and see our display by the Edison Botanic Research Lab,  ask our horticulturists a question or pick up worm castings for your own garden in our Garden Shoppe.   We also sell heirloom seeds, just like the lettuces and greens we are growing in our Hydroponic system.

Do you need heirloom seeds for your vegetable garden? The Edison & Ford Winter Estates now carries Baker Creek Heirloom Seeds in the Garden Shoppe.

The Baker Creek Heirloom Seed Company carries one of the largest collection of seeds from the 19^th century and its all non-hybrid, non-GMO, non-treated and open pollinated.  The company has been featured in the Associated Press, Oprah Magazine and Martha Stewart.  They now offer a collection of over 1300 varieties of vegetables, flowers and herbs.

The Edison & Ford Winter Estates is pleased to offer you a selection of Baker Creek seeds in our Garden Shoppe.  We also have an organic demonstration garden at the Edison Ford where you can see some of these seeds that we are growing.  Stop by the Garden Shoppe today and let the Edison Ford Horticultural staff help you with your selection or take a tour through our vegetable gardens and see the seeds growing for yourself.

Did you know that some of the plants represented in the movie Avatar are also grown on the Edison & Ford Winter Estates?

I found it interesting to learn that some of the plants that inspired those used in the movie Avatar were based on plants like those grown here at the Edison & Ford Winter Estates.  Many of the plants in Avatar resemble ones we are familiar with and probably grow in our own gardens.  Some of those plants are ferns, cycads and agave while others look like tropical plants we can buy at the Edison Ford Garden Shoppe.

The movie creators used a consultant from the USC Department of Botany and Plant Sciences to help create plants and names for use in the movie.  The most important and prominent plant in the movie was the home tree.  It was inspired by the Kapok tree and was the home to many of the inhabitants of the movie, as well as, the real life rain forest occupants.

The Kapok tree also grows on the Edison & Ford Winter Estates on the McGregor side of the property behind the Botanic Research Lab and the Banyan Café.  It is one of our larger trees, approaching almost 100 feet tall and nearing that in age.  

Kapok trees (Ceiba pendantra) are from South America and can reach heights of over 150 feet. They produce a seed pod that contains a silk like fiber that is very buoyant and was once used in Navy Kapok flotation vests. The fiber is still used today as an alternative filler for stuffed animals and pillows.

Another example of plants that were used in the movie Avatar that also exist on the Edison & Ford Winter Estates are a family of plants called cycads. Cycads typically have large woody trunks with crowns of large, hard and stiff leaves that can be over 1000 years old.  Cycads are often confused as being palm trees, but are only distantly related.

The largest diversity of cycads in the world are found in Central and South America.  Cycads are often called living fossils and date back to the age of dinosaurs.  Cycads were most prevalent in the Jurassic period and were often eaten by the dinosaurs.  The Edison & Ford Winter Estates has an entire garden area of cycads with a large collection of mature specimens.

Come and visit the Edison Ford today and see some of plants and trees that were represented in the movie Avatar.  On Tuesdays and Saturdays you can take a guided botanical garden tour and one of our Horticulture staff members will lead you around the gardens and point out some of these plant specimens.

November 19 & 20 9AM-4PM

Throughout the Edison & Ford Winter Estates public gardens and under the banyan tree, the Edison Ford Garden Shoppe will be selling unique tropical heritage plants and trees and will be joined by several dozen Florida vendors.

Gardeners will be delighted at this one stop shopping for unique garden items including flowering trees, unusual tropical plants and fruits, bougainvillea, orchids, roses, bromeliads, paalms, cactus, herbs, bonsai, bamboo, ginger and butterfly plants as well as garden art, honey, and gardening supplies.

• The event is FREE to the public with FREE Parkeing
• Dozens of vendors from throughout the states of Florida, tropical plants, trees, garden art and supplies
• For a map, directions and additional information please visit us on the web at: http://www.edisonfordwinterestates.org/events/annual-events/edison-garden-market/
• Free gardening demonstrations throughout the day