A Patio under a Banyion

Today we painted at Edison Estates in Fort Myers. Edison and Ford, with their wives, lived in this building complex on the shores of the Caloosahatchee River. Edison's wife enjoyed gardening and many of the gardens and trees in the estate were planted for her pleasure. Behind Edison's laboratory a white garden with a reflecting pool in the middle was created. This was put in to be enjoyed at night when the bushes and flowers would be able to be seen and reflected in the pond. Hence the "white"

garden. There are trees here from all over the world and most bore fruit. But of course my favourite is the walking tree, or as I found out today, the Banyon Tree. As you can see from the painting there was a patio built under one of these trees and unlike last week, I was able to put the trunk of the tree in the painting.

As expected there were bus loads of tourists pulling in all day and the estate was busy. Most of the tour guides are volunteers and after listening to their talks all morning, I can honestly say they do a wonderful job.