The Moonlight Garden

The Moonlight Garden. . , The Moonlight Garden was designed in 1928 by Ellen Biddle Shipman, one of the first female landscape architects in America. She specialized in enclosed gardens, full of drift beds where flowers of beauty bloomed in cycles throughout the year. Shipman’s ideas matched what the Edison’s envisioned for their garden. Mina Edison was significantly influential in modifying the plan to suit her own vision for a formal garden that created a casual, private area for family and guests to gather., Upon completion in January 1929, the Fort Myers Tropical News described the garden as "…surrounded by a tall trellis, over which hang scarlet bougainvillea, now in full bloom. The garden itself consists of about 25 separate beds laid out in neat geometric pattern.", The initial planting in the Moonlight Garden included the old stock bougainvillea that had been supported by the south wall of the original laboratory as well as new cedar trees, azaleas, roses, and lilies. Throughout the following years, plantings were added or changed to fit the season and climate of south Florida. The garden underwent a restoration in 2003 and now displays tall podocarpus trees and flowering plants, such as azaleas, roses, water lilies, begonias, and pentas., The Moonlight Garden at Seminole Lodge is one of a handful of remaining Ellen Biddle Shipman gardens. It is a treasure to share with visitors today, as the Edisons did in an earlier time.