Edison Heritage Garden

The garden area reflects Thomas Edison’s original 1885 plan for the Estate landscape, which included not only homes, a laboratory, and outlying buildings, but also areas for growing fruits and vegetables to be eaten, given to friends and family, or sold by staff through truck gardens. His plan listed pineapples, citrus, peanuts, and other edible plants that could be cultivated in the tropics, and he frequently used raised beds and container gardens to produce and research plants efficiently. He also employed innovative practices for irrigation, propagation, and fertilization, including seaweed as fertilizer and rainwater for irrigation. In keeping with that tradition, the Estate today uses organic plant food and soaps as well as supplementary rainwater, while horticulture staff encourage volunteers to help care for, propagate, and sell a changing variety of heritage plants that reflect the Edisons’ lifestyle. The Estates is also an official site of the University of Florida Extension Service Master Gardener program, and plant sales and classes throughout the year encourage public involvement and knowledge of the Edisons’ horticultural interests.

Fort Myers, Florida · United States