Inventors & Gardeners
No shortage of educational fun at Edison and Ford Winter Estates
Avisit to the Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida, is like stepping back in time and moving into the future all in one day. Where else can you see artifacts from the early 1900s and then create your own invention? The winter retreats of world-renowned inventor Thomas Edison and automobile magnate Henry Ford are particularly interesting to families. No matter whether mom is interested in gardening, dad likes architecture and antique cars, or the children want to learn about science and how things work, each can discover something exciting.
The Edison and Ford Winter Estates partnered with the Smithsonian Institution in 2017 and became only the ninth museum in the country to offer families a Spark!Lab. This addition to the museum offers a series of six different activity stations that change every few months. It’s a hands-on exhibit—unlike so many museum exhibits that are “hands off” for children.
Some of the Spark!Lab activities include the Towering Teeter Table, where kids and families can build structures and balance them. The High Wire Driver station allows users to work with a variety of building toys and simple motors, to invent devices that can roll along a cable suspended above the work surface.
Snap Circuits—a favorite among children and parents— provides an opportunity to create and test electric circuits and devices such as LEDs, lightbulbs, fan motors, flying disc launchers and even a radio. The Vertical Wind Tunnel is an activity that enables participants to create objects that can fly in the wind. Soundscapes is a fun activity where families create music and sound pathways for marbles.
Outside in the botanical gardens, there are more than 20 acres full of trees, shrubs and plants that bloom throughout the year in this subtropical climate. Many new trees have recently been planted and some of them are unique specimens that many people have never seen.
There are trees and plants from all over the world, including countries as far away as India and China. For visitors interested in seeing plants that come from our area, there is a garden with plants native to Southwest Florida.
While the site is a fun adventure, it is also an educational opportunity: Have you ever heard of the shaving brush tree? Did you know that vanilla comes from an orchid? Or perhaps you would like to know how Thomas Edison made rubber from goldenrod?
These are just some of the fascinating topics that visitors will learn about. There are specialty garden tours on Wednesdays at 10:30 a.m. that highlight these unique botanicals and take visitors behind the scenes through the propagating nursery.
No matter what time of year, there is always something blooming in the gardens. Spring is a good time to see the orchids, which were the favorite flowers of Thomas Edison’s wife, Mina. She placed them in trees, just as she saw them growing wild in the Everglades during a 1914 camping trip.
Mina Edison even gave tours of her winter estate gardens and talked about her orchids. She made sure each one hung low enough for her guests to view at eye level. Today, while walking around the site, visitors will see many different kinds of orchids—in just about every color available.
Henry Ford grew many kinds of fruit and that piece of history was recently brought back to life with the planting of 50 citrus trees.
On the Ford property, there is something new growing—literally. Henry Ford grew many kinds of fruit and that piece of history was recently brought back to life with the planting of 50 citrus trees. There are plans to restore the Ford caretaker’s cottage and create a café with indoor and outdoor dining areas. In the future, visitors will be able to relax and enjoy a little citrus, all while taking in the view of the Caloosahatchee River.
The citrus grove not only offers a new experience for visitors, but paves the way for new relationships and educational opportunities. The Edison and Ford Winter Estates is partnering with the University of Florida Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences and with Florida Gulf Coast University’s agribusiness program. The partnership will create classes, presentations and lectures centered on the grove, agriculture and the citrus industry.
Whether looking for a fun activity for children or an engaging tour for history buffs, the Edison and Ford Winter Estates is a place where the entire family can enjoy the day and learn something new. Guided and self-guided tours are offered and the site is open daily from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Additional information can be found at edisonford.org.
For visitors interested in seeing plants that come from our area, there is a garden with plants native to Southwest Florida.