Through his writings, through his association with some of the area's best-known gardens and gardeners, and through his own carefully tended plot of land (at what is now the site of Caribbean Gardens in Naples), botanist Henry Nehrling changed the way people perceived the Southwest Florida landscape. In his journals and gardening columns, written for The American Eagle in Estero in the 1920s, Nehrling celebrated everything that was natural about this earthly paradise and despaired at the changes that threatened it.

Born in Wisconsin in 1853, Nehrling pursued an interest in natural science to Texas, where he became known for his writings on ornithology, and grew interested in tropical horticulture. In 1886 he bought property in Florida and worked toward settling there permanently, considering its temperate climate the perfect place to grow tropical plants. Nehrling created a majestic garden in Gotha, near Orlando, cultivating tens of thousands of caladiums and other plants. He lost more than half of them in a freeze in 1917, a traumatic event that he mentioned often in his writings. Looking for a safe place for his beloved plants, he fled to a tract of farmland in Naples, leaving his wife to take care of the Gotha garden.

The parcel, now in the heart of the city, was then several miles north of town. Although Nehrling reveled in his solitude in letters to friends, he was no recluse. He socialized with the smart set of Midwestern travelers at the now-gone Naples Hotel. He explored the entire region, sometimes accompanied by some of the most notable local leaders of the day: Judge E.G. Wilkinson, John Hachmeister, E.W. Crayton and others. He worked in Fort Myers on the gardens at friend Thomas Edison's estate and in Everglades City as Barron Collier developed his model company town.

Landscape architect David Driapsa, who has done extensive research into Nehrling's life and work, says that far from being a lone voice, Nehrling was part of an important national movement in landscape architecture. "He, among others, was looking to wilderness for inspiration for his garden design," Driapsa says. Although Nehrling introduced new plants here (his mail often overflowed with specimens from botanical gardens in Hong Kong, Jamaica, Italy, India and Brazil), he particularly appreciated Southwest Florida's natural treasures, from the stately royal palms planted in downtown Fort Myers to the pond apple trees growing in the swamps east of Naples. Ornamental horticulture is a huge industry today, Driapsa says, but in Nehrling's time it was often dismissed as a romantic pursuit. His readers shared his enthusiasm, though, so much so that at times he protested that he couldn't keep up with the volume of mail.

After Nehrling's death in 1929, the publisher of The American Eagle collected the botanist's writings in a book called My Garden in Florida. Edited by the late Dr. Robert W. Read, botanist emeritus of the Smithsonian Institution and longtime Naples resident, Nehrling's writings have been reissued by the University Press of Florida. Read himself is remembered for his work with the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and the Naples Botanical Garden. Excerpted here, Nehrling's Early Florida Gardens and Nehrling's Plants, People and Places in Early Florida tell the story of the pioneering botanist's joyous sojourn in what was then a wild frontier.

Henry Nehrling explains how he came to Naples, then a village with only a couple of hundred residents and a seasonal population centered at the Naples Hotel:

Recently a friend said to me, "What are you doing here in this wilderness, without neighbors or amusements? This hermit's life would be intolerable to me." I answered him, that a lover of nature is sufficient to himself where he may be, and for a plant enthusiast this is not a dull existence but Paradise.

Nehrling on the 1917 freeze that killed his plants in Gotha, prompting him to take his plants to Naples:

Thus, in my sixty-sixth year, I again became a pioneer in the wilderness. The hardships that I had to overcome and the disappointments that I met were legion. The soil had appeared to be good, but I found that during the rainy season a very high water-table made it impossible for deep-rooting plants to do well. In my garden at Gotha everything had been different. Although the land there was high, dry pineland, almost all the plants started into vigorous growth as soon as they were planted. There my only troubles had been occasional heavy freezes, but in this new land there were many days of such disappointment and discouragement that I longed for Gotha again, freezes and all!

However, that is all of the past now, and I have learned to love and understand this more southern garden. I call this place my "Tropical Garden" and derive much happiness from the great variety of truly tropical species that I can grow here. As I look out of my window at the orchid-laden trees, I wonder what more life could offer anywhere.

Most entries are undated, but this one, from 1925, describes the quiet pleasures that Nehrling enjoys in Naples, and the challenges he faces in growing plants in a new climate:

I t is easter, and i am alone in the wilderness of South Florida. In the evening I hear the surf, the Gulf of Mexico being only about a mile to the west. The loud calls of the whippoorwills near my little bungalow imbue every night with a delight that can only be felt, but not described, while during the daytime the joyous notes of the mocking-bird make the air ring with sweet music.

Nehrling on Florida:

I t is an indisputable fact that the true nature lover, who has enjoyed this delightful climate, the cool ocean breezes, the enchanting moonlit nights and all the charms that nature has spread out with a lavish hand for all those who really seek to understand her, cannot stay away from Florida for a long period without becoming homesick.

Florida is a great silent poem of color and light, of bird song and plant beauty. The glossy foliage of Magnolia grandiflora and other evergreen glitters in the bright sunshine, and the placid waters of the lakes sparkle like mirrors. The tourists and winter residents who come and go like the robin and the bluebird do not know Florida as it really is. They do not know our summer, the most delightful season of the year.

florida has been called the playground of the rich and the paradise of the poor. In reality it is the paradise of the man with ideals, of the nature lover and of the horticulturist. There are drawbacks, to be sure, but untouched nature is perfect.

Nehrling connected with sympathetic souls in Naples, including Judge Wilkinson, the city's first elected mayor, whose house still stands as the oldest in Naples:

One of the most ardent plant hunters I have ever met is Judge E. G. Wilkinson of Naples. In his younger days he often accompanied the late botanist and collector, A.H. Curtiss, in his excursions through the primeval forests of Florida. In this way he has become a real woodsman. These rambles have made him a lover of all that is rare, unique and beautiful among the wild plants. Several years ago he invited me to accompany him to a so-called Pop Ash and Pond-Apple swamp. In July, 1921, he-then county commissioner and promoter of the famous Tamiami Trail-had contemplated to surprise me with a new picture of wild forest scenery. He told me that we would motor along the Tamiami Trail for a distance of about 30 miles. We went through forest and glades, through Cypress swamps and over grassy prairies. Finally we halted in a dense hammock. A most wonderful picture presented itself to my dazzled eyes-dozens of lofty Royal Palms overtowering the forest everywhere around them. There must have been at least a hundred of these sublime giants scattered over a large area. I was simply overwhelmed by a sensation of grand-eur. This day will always be remembered as a red letter day of my life.

Prof. C.S. Sargent has said that this wonderful Royal Palm hammock is situated on Rogue's River-an ominous name, when we consider that only a short while ago more than 25 of these century-old giants have been ruthlessly destroyed by some rogues and rascals who should be sent for at least 25 years behind iron bars. This palm hammock is now owned by a wide-awake man, a man of visions and ideals-Mr. Barron G. Collier-who intends to create here a state park for the benefit and education of future generations.

On our way home Mr. Wilkinson led me through a cypress swamp, partly under water, to a pond-like depression surrounded by old mossy and gnarled pond-apple trees, loaded from top to bottom with air plants and other epiphytes. I was spellbound, but at least 300 feet of shallow water were between me and this interesting group. Without much thought I waded through the water, which was scarcely more than two or three feet deep. I suddenly struck a deep hole, five to six feet and more deep, and I went up to my neck into it. I had struck an alligator hole, but none of the saurians seemed to be at home, or I would not have been able to crawl out alive.

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.

the true plant enthusiast is so much absorbed in this beautiful world of ours that he finds no time for sordid and valueless pleasures and for morbid dissipations. Nothing ennobles the human soul more, elevates it more, electrifies it more, than to be surrounded by and associated with nature's beauties.

every community in florida, every town and city, should not only embellish the streets and gardens, but should also supply the means to employ educated gardeners to lay out interesting and beautiful public places where people can rest and dream and enjoy the alluring surroundings.

Sometimes Nehrling thought the forces of preservation would prevail, but at other times he lamented that too much had already been lost. Always he took a strong stand against indiscriminate development:.

It is high time, however, that steps be taken to preserve what still remains.. And this should be done now, before it is too late-before the ax of the woodsman destroys the beauty spots of a most alluring and subtropical landscape. Many of our dense Cypress swamps should never be destroyed by the grubbing hoe and the shovel of the ditch digger.

[In Florida's future] i see residences, built more or less in the colonial style-elaborate modern winter homes and architecturally fine villas-homes where cultured and refined people have taken up their abode. Wonderful tropical gardens surround these homes.

it has taken nature centuries to create this beauty. After it has been destroyed no power in the world can bring it back.

Nehrling's writings, edited by Dr. Robert W. Read and published by the University Press of Florida, are available at major bookstores. Nehrling's Plants, People and Places in Early Florida includes a biographical essay about Nehrling by Naples landscape architect and researcher David Driapsa, who is working on a history of landscape architecture and pioneer gardens in Southwest Florida. He is using his pen, as he says, to preserve our area's historic landscapes. Driapsa is on the board of directors at the Edison-Ford Winter Estates Foundation and is chairman-elect of the Historic Preservation Group for the Washington, D.C.-based American Society of Landscape Architects.