Arbor Day Celebration at Edison & Ford Winter Estates
FORT MYERS, Fla. (April 23, 2018) — On April 27, at 10 a.m., Edison & Ford Winter Estates will hold its annual Arbor Day celebration. As part of the annual event, students from Edison Park Creative and Expressive Arts School will help plant a tree on the historic property. This year will be an extra special celebration, as the teacher accompanying the students from Edison Park, Maria Rose, is also a Golden Apple award recipient.
The first Arbor Day celebration was held in Nebraska City in 1872 and as many as one million trees were planted. For many years, Thomas and Mina Edison planted Coconut Palms along the fence line at their Fort Myers’ winter home on Arbor Day. The tradition was brought back with the involvement of Edison Ford patron and garden lover, Berne Davis.
Over the years, many trees have been planted on the property, including Mango, Hong Kong Orchid, Live Oak, Geiger, citrus, Calabash, Royal Poinciana and Jacaranda. The site has hundreds of tropical trees on more than 20 acres, including the champion-sized Banyan and Mysore Fig.
The Arbor Day celebration is included with general admission. For more information, contact 239-334-7419 or visit the website at www.edisonfordwinterestates.org.
### Edison & Ford Winter Estates
Edison & Ford Winter Estates is the internationally known winter home site of Thomas Edison and Henry Ford. More than 250,000 visitors walk through the site each year from all around the globe. The organization has received many awards, including the National Stewardship Award from the National Trust for Historic Preservation and the National Garden Clubs’ Historic Preservation Award. The site is an official project of “Save America’s Treasures,” a Florida Historic Landmark and a National Register Historic Site. The Edison Botanic Laboratory is a National Historic Chemical Landmark. The site is open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas from 9:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. and until 9 p.m. during the month of December.