An Earthly Paradise

On Thomas Edison, who shared Nehrling's vision of the wilderness as the true American landscape:

There cannot be any doubt that the tropical plantings of Mr. Thomas A. Edison on the shores of the Caloosahatchee, at Fort Myers, form one of the most distinct and enchanting garden paradises in Florida. It is my particular intention to call your attention to Mr. Edison as a garden builder and a horticulturist. Though the entire place impresses us as a large forest-like park of a tropical nature, there are many fine groups and open vistas, showing us the placid and glittering waters of the great river. There is nowhere formality.

Recently [April 27, 1927], he and Mrs. Edison spent almost an entire day with me in my garden here at Naples, where I have accumulated a collection of about 100 species of Ficus. Though having celebrated on Feb. 11, his eightieth birthday, he showed himself as alert and enthusiastic, as interested and desirous of knowledge as any young student. After we had looked over all the plants in the grounds we retired to my little house. In every respect this famous inventor, one of the greatest men of all times, showed himself as a model of modesty, as a thorough scientist and as a most systematic worker-a most wonderful man. It is only necessary to come in contact with him to feel the power of his eminence and greatness and charm of his personality.

Nehrling was an enthusiastic admirer of the royal palm and the City of Palms, Fort Myers:

I t is a delight to observe that settlers who have a taste for the poetry and beauty of nature everywhere plant Royal Palms. In a few years hence Fort Myers will look as if placed in a Royal Palm park. The romantic Tamiami Trail will be studded with these princes among plants. The entire region of south Florida, where it is possible, will reveal to the tourist landscapes of beauty and distinction that will remind one rather of a dreamland than a land of reality. The Royal Palm never palls; it is always intensely interesting..Even the man with sordid views of life, and the one whose main existence seems to find its goal in the accumulation of filthy lucre cannot help to be struck by the beauty and nobility of a fine, large specimen of the Royal Palm.

when we enter fort myers, a most wonderful picture is placed before our eyes-color masses of the most exquisite hues. We have the feeling of entering fairyland.

Nehrling had a long association with J.E. Hendry, the founder of Everglades Nursery in Fort Myers and a member of one of the leading families who settled the area:

[He is] one of nature's noblemen, and one of the greatest benefactors of his native city. A fact most surprising is the great number of true plant lovers and horticulturists in Fort Myers-a class deplorably rare in most communities. When the writer went around Fort Myers to enjoy the treasures of the various places he invariably inquired where and on whose advice these plants were obtained, and invariably the answer came-Mr. J.E. Hendry is responsible. I was informed that the beautiful arrangement of Crotons, palms and other plants around the Courthouse was due to him, and that the street plantings. were his idea. The writer, of course, was very eager to meet this exceptional man, and he had not long to wait. One fine morning he strolled down one of the side streets. About four or five squares from First Street he came suddenly upon a garden full of beauty and individuality. A magnificent specimen of Cycas circinalis struck his eye, then a number of rare palms, then masses of different Bougainvilleas in full bloom.and hundreds of other plants, many of them scarcely being found outside of botanical gardens. The beauty of this place was so impressive that I asked permission to enjoy the sight of the various plants more closely, and the gentleman, who noticed my interest, offered to conduct me around. A rather young man, browned by the sun and outside life, with energetic features and an exuberance of what people today call "pep," and very courteous. This proved to be Mr. J.E. Hendry Jr. himself. I found a kindred spirit, and we became friends at once. He loves the place of his birth, and he endeavors to get now, while it is possible, as much land for parks as can be obtained. There is no doubt that Fort Myers will be one of the leading and most beautiful winter resorts in the state. I know all the important places in Florida, but I do not know a more beautiful one, or a more tropical one.

Nehrling on the myriad of plants he cultivated in Southwest Florida:

The cultivation of orchids possesses a singular charm, different in many aspects to that belonging to any other class of plants. It has a peculiar fascination which few who have experienced it have been able to resist.When orchids are grown under glass, unless one has unlimited space and chooses to pay indefinite coal bills and many gardeners, there is a limit to their cultivation, but when one lives in a climate where all one has to do is to build a lath house, or to fasten them to tree trunks or hand them up on the branches.the temptation to form a large collection is very strong.

i have been repeatedly requested to say a few kind words in favor of the Agaves, or Century Plants. It was a popular belief at not a very remote time that Agaves only flower once in a century-hence the name Century-Plant. But this is an exploded idea. Agaves flower when they are large enough, in six, ten or fifteen years. I have in my Naples garden one or the other in bloom every year.

i have invariably found that the beauty of this exceptionally fine plant [the marlberry] is not appreciated at first sight. One has to care for it lov-ingly for several years and it will gradually reveal all its charms and attach itself upon your mind. And once in love with it, this love will be a lasting one. It is common on Pine Island, where I found it in 1916, and it also occurs on all the other nearby islands. Here, near Naples, I often enjoyed its beauty on a fine, large, but now well-nigh destroyed shell mound in company of the Satinleaf, Gumbo Limbo, Haelia, the wild Papaya and many other plants.

in mr. john hachmeister's beautiful hammock on Gordon Bay, [the gumbo limbo] grows together with grand old Live Oaks, the American Mulberry, Red Maple, Marlberry bushes and many other tropical plants, and it is always conspicuous. It is nowhere a strikingly beautiful tree.

on the west coast i have only seen one fine specimen [of the Geiger tree] in the grounds of the Naples Hotel, growing on land that was formerly dry and poor. It flowers every year most brilliantly and most profusely. Since Mr. Peter P. Schutt has taken charge of the hotel he has taken great pains to make the surroundings as beautiful as the circumstances allow.

when i saw the royal poinciana for the first time in full bloom, at Fort Myers, I was overwhelmed. I could not find words to express my feelings. I could only bow in appreciative reverence. Not even a faint idea can be derived from a description. A flame, to which they have sometimes been likened, and even the tints of the rainbow and the brilliancy of a sunset as seen on the beach of the Gulf, cannot give a correct idea of this wonder of colors.

among trees and among plants in general there are, as among humans, "high and low-brows"-patricians and plebians; there is a nobility and a cultured and dignified middle class; there are aristocrats and proletarians. These thoughts came to me when I strolled through my garden, coming in contact not only with such trees and plants that elated me and delighted my heart-the plant nobility-but also with nettles and sandspurs, with poison ivy and other riff-raff of the plant world.

With every passing year, Nehrling believed more passionately that caring for plants was as essential to humans as business or art:

Life has taught me a most important lesson-the lesson that the ideal, the beautiful, the noble, the elevating, is as valuable, only more so, as the useful.. Only cultured people of refined tastes and lofty ideals are able to create earthly garden paradises.

during the past few years we had a class of people in the state who could talk only about land sales and subdivisions. Their sole ideal of life was the chase after the dollar. Fortunately this time has passed. Never before have I met so many nature lovers, so many enthusiasts and dreamers-people of an excellent education, high culture and refinement.