Growing Roses in Southwest Florida
Clara Ford’s extensive rose garden at Fair Lane, the year-round residence of the Ford family in Dearborn, Michigan.
You may know that both Mina Edison and Clara Ford grew roses at their year-round residences, but did you know that you can have a beautiful rose garden right here in Southwest Florida? Attend our class on April 16th at 1:00 pm and you will learn all the techniques required for a successful rose garden in our semi-tropical climate – it is quite different from what you may have learned to grow roses up North. We will cover soils, feeding, varieties, root-stocks, pests, weather conditions, planting times and pruning techniques. This class will be approximately 90 minutes and will be held in the air-conditioned comfort of the Garden Council Building, located adjacent to Edison Ford, at 2166 Virginia Ave. (If you park in our Larchmont Street Parking Lot, the entrance to the Garden Council Building, also known as the Berne Davis Gardens, is immediately across the street.) Pre-registration is required– click here for more information. Members – $30 and Non-Members – $45. Class size will be limited to 25.
Baseball at Terry Park – From Edison to Today (Events Canceled)
On January 5, 1921,Dr. Marshall Terry, along with his wife Tootie McGregor-Terry, donated several acres of privately owned land that had in its earliest days been a cow pasture and later the site of the Lee County Fair. Lee county government took formal possession of the land a mile east of the city of Fort Myers with the stipulation that “all property shall be used as a park and public property.”
Using the specifications put forth by Cornelius McGillicuddy, aka “Connie Mack,” manager and owner of the Philadelphia Athletics, construction of the original ball field began in 1923 and was officially named Terry Park. After two years of negotiations between Mack and a committee led by Richard Richards Sr., owner of the Fort Myers Royal Palm Pharmacy, the A’s agreed to play their spring training games in Fort Myers starting in 1925.
Terry Park would serve as the official spring training home of the A’s until 1936. They would go on to win the World Series two times during this span, in 1929 & 1930. Over the next five decades, other major league baseball teams would use this ballpark to play their preseason exhibition games:
- Cleveland Indians (40-41)
- Pittsburgh Pirates (55-68)
- Kansas City Royals (69-87)
Hall of Famers such as Babe Ruth, Ty Cobb, Jimmy Foxx, Roberto Clemente, and George Brett are just some of stars that graced the fields at Terry Park, helping bring national exposure to the “City of Palms”.
Thomas Edison, world-famous inventor and businessman, was also a die-hard baseball fan. In a 1927 interview, Edison was quoted as saying “Baseball is the greatest of American games. I don’t believe you can find a more ardent follower of baseball than myself, as a day seldom passes when I do not read sporting pages of the newspaper.” Edison decided to visit Terry Park on a few occasions to watch the A’s play, even seizing one opportunity to participate in the team’s batting practice session.
According to Edison-Ford Registrar Matt Andres, “from what I’ve read, Ty Cobb volunteered to pitch to the 80 year old Edison, who subsequently hit a line drive that knocked Ty Cobb down who was standing half-way between the mound and home plate. As a result, Edison and an army of reporters roared with laughter after humbling one the leagues greatest players. While Cobb was dusting himself off, the inventor quipped, “think you can hit them like that when you’re 80?” A few days later the entire team visited Mr. and Mrs. Edison at the Seminole Lodge where they toured the property and had lunch with the legendary inventor. In honor of Edison’s love for baseball, the Edison and Ford Winter Estates will be hosting our 2nd annual Vintage Baseball Weekend complete with lectures, games, and a whole lot of fun.
Please note: The following events have been canceled.
The weekend starts with a presentation tonight at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates:
Guest Speaker Elizabeth Carlson: Hindsight is 2020
The fun continues Saturday afternoon with a double feature presentation in the theater of the Edison Ford Museum:
A Visit with Early Inventor, Mary Florence Potts
The Distaff Side of Vintage Base Ball: Then & Now
Finally, the big game takes place Sunday, the bats start swinging at 10:00 am and plan to go all day:
Vintage Base Ball at Terry Park hosted by Edison Ford
Rare Plants Protected at Edison Ford
Public gardens play an important role in plant conservation, and the gardens at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates are no exception. As habitat loss, climate change, illegal harvesting and other issues continue to threaten the world’s floral biodiversity, public gardens serve as “safe havens” for species that are most vulnerable. At Edison Ford, we have more than 1900 plants in our collection, comprised of more than 750 species. Of those, at least 34 species are listed on the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species™. This list has evolved to become the world’s most comprehensive information source on the global conservation status of animal, fungi and plant species.
It may surprise some that the royal poinciana, Delonix regia, or the bottle palm, Hyophorbe lagenicaulis, make the list. Both are common landscape features in Southwest Florida but are hard to find in their native ranges. Many cycads, including species in our collection, are believed to number less than 500 in the wild.
Edison Ford’s plant data is part of PlantSearch, the only global database of living plants, seeds and tissue collections which is coordinated by Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI). More than 1,100 institutions participate, allowing researchers and conservationists to contact the keepers of the world’s rarest plants. Through PlantSearch, we discovered that some of the plants we house are found in less than 10 of those institutions, affirming the importance of continuing conservation efforts at multiple gardens.
We hope to highlight some of our rare plants using the “Care for the Rare” program facilitated by BGCI. Look for the informational signs to appear in our garden later this year. In the meantime, you can do your part by making sure all the plants you buy are responsibly grown and not collected from the wild.
Swallowtail Butterfly Update
As of March 11, 2019, we can see at least three black swallowtail, Papilio polyxenes, pupas (or chrysalises) in our ‘butterfly cages’ in the herb garden next to the Edison Caretaker’s House. They are on schedule to emerge as butterflies starting March 19th, so keep an eye on them!
Read Swallowtail Butterflies Soon to Appear to catch up or learn more about the temporary caterpillar display you can visit at Edison Ford!
Phonograph expert speaks at Edison Ford
Phonograph historian and author, Tim Fabrizio, made a special visit to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates during Thomas Edison’s birthday celebration, February 11th. Mr. Fabrizio has been researching and writing about the history of sound recording for nearly fifty years. His program entitled: The Phonograph in Everyday Life was well-received by visitors, volunteers, and staff alike. Afterwards, many had the rare opportunity to meet with the “phono guru” in person, ask questions, have their books signed, or even have their machines examined by Mr. Fabrizio personally. Subsequently, Edison Ford curatorial staff was able to provide Mr. Fabrizio access to some of the collection’s earliest tin-foil model phonographs dating from the 1870s. He agreed to share his knowledge and research on what he termed, “the treasures of the Edison Ford” in a future multi-page article in The Antique Phonograph, a popular publication with phonograph enthusiasts and collectors.
According to Edison Ford Registrar, Matt Andres, “the tin-foil phonographs we have in our collection are some of the earliest examples of Edison’s work dealing with phonographs and sound recording. They are unique and remarkable pieces from a historical standpoint; I definitely encourage visitors to visit the museum for a closer look.” All three tin-foil phonographs are currently on display inside the Edison Ford Museum.
Swallowtail Butterflies Soon to Appear
Visitors to Edison Ford during the month of March may notice unusual ‘cages’ in our herb garden alongside the Edison Caretaker’s House! During the last week of February, a large number of caterpillars were spotted on certain plants prospering in this raised bed garden. Upon closer examination, the white ‘saddle’ of the really tiny ones and the protruding orange glands (osmeterium) in response to a light touch on the larger caterpillars, could mean only one thing – a female black swallowtail (Papilio polyxenes) had discovered a compatible habitat upon which to lay her eggs.
It is not often we find such a large collection of caterpillars ‘in the open’, as they usually become prey to birds looking for food to feed their young. At Edison Ford, we relish the opportunity to engage our visitors with nature, so we set out to protect our caterpillars and we hope to raise them exactly where they were found. As one can see in the pictures, two mesh clothes hampers were carefully placed upside down over the plants, with the handles pinned down to keep the hampers from blowing away.
As of March 3rd, the caterpillars range in size from a quarter inch to just over an inch long, allowing an approximate timeline for their next stage (pupating, or metamorphosing into a pupa) to be determined. These caterpillars will shed their skins or molt several times before they complete their growth and are large enough to pupate. Keep an eye out for the “J” formation, which heralds this 3rd stage in the life of the butterfly. The caterpillar will attach itself to a stem by throwing a silk anchor, similar to a harness, which is strong enough to support its weight until the big day arrives. Each stage can last from 9 to 18 days, so a probable timeline for the pupal stage to the emergence of these beautiful butterflies looks something like the table below. Of course, mother nature always has the final say!
- Eggs laid: Between February 18-February 23, 2019
- Larval stage: February 22 – March 22, 2019
- Pupal stage: March 3 – March 22, 2019
- Butterfly emergence: During the 3rd and 4th weeks of March
If you would like to know on which plants the beautiful female Black Swallowtail chose to lay her eggs so that upon hatching, the necessary food was available for her hungry caterpillars, come visit the raised beds adjacent to the Edison Caretaker’s House.
