Edison & Ford Estates 2023

[Joe The Palm]

In February I visited this Fort Myers landmark (HIGHLY recommend).

I was curious to see what effects Hurricane Ian had on this place five months down the road. 

 McGregor Blv 

 

 

Edison and his Banyan Tree. This tree was stripped of its leaves in Ian but has now recovered. Huge Old and Resilient (100+ years!)

 

 

Caloosahatchee River and Edison’s original dock (beautiful coconut!) 

 

 

Giant & old Staghorn Fern belonged to Edison’s wife (river is right behind the bamboo curtain )

 
 

 

 

Turning my back to the fern looking toward the estates. This area was submerged by surge, stoping right at the porch.

 

 

The estates faired good and dodged water damage 👌🏼

 

 

From the porch looking towards the river. Most vegetation loss occurred right along the waters edge (big trees canopy). All debris has since been cleared. Almost all palms survived but many are noticeably “ragged”.

 

 

From the porch looking towards McGregor Blv. The tallest Royal in the background was planted by Edison himself.  

 

 

Fords house also did fine 👌🏼

 

Nice Kentia Palm

 

Interestingly the highest loss ratio among the plant specimens where the mango trees. They originally had four now their down to one. 

 

 

This place was simply amazing and a fascinating experience to get a glimpse into the lives of Edison & Ford. A place where History, Science and tropic Horticulture combine. 👌🏼

[BS Man about Palms]

A incredible place to spend a day and learn history! My brother and I went just after Thanksgiving.. still cleaning up then.

[aabell]

The biggest loss imo was a double whammy - a massive Borrasus that was actually taken out by a falling pine (the big log previous post). It was probably my favorite palm in the garden, just phenomenally big, twice as wide as the survivor next to it. Here's a sign with info about the historic pine, the base of the Borrasus was just here to the right. 

This photo was taken only two weeks before the storm. Losing this one was a heartbreaker for sure, there aren't any other palms like it around here. The gardens were a mess and they lost a lot of other trees but overall I have to feel like it could have been worse.

[PalmatierMeg]

Thanks for the photos. I haven't visited the actual estates for a number of years, but I attend tropical plant sales 3-4 times per year just outside the ticket sales building across MacGregor from the actual homes. Lots of stuff to see and buy. Crowds get bigger every year.