Florida Flowers and Gardens: 2014

Sanibel Moorings Resort faces the Gulf of Mexico on Sanibel Island. On December 15, 2014, the Estero Island Garden Club visited the Botanical Gardens, which are woven all around the pathways and buildings of the beach-side resort. We saw hundreds of native plants and non-invasive tropical species, including bromeliads, cacti, hibiscus, orchids, palms, fruits, and cycads spread out over six acres. The resident gardener, Anita Force Marshall, welcomed us and gave us a tour of the grounds and described her philosophy of wildlife gardening, which she referred to as “organized chaos.” Gardens planted for the benefit of wildlife always include host plants as food sources, do not use poisonous chemicals for pest control, and predominantly feature native species. The plantings in a wildlife garden will also require less maintenance and have more resilience than a garden less in harmony with nature.

Pergola/bench with Diane and Katie

This is the starting point of the garden tour.

Becky with blue birdbath surrounded by purple gerber daisies

Garden Club members at the beginning of the tour

Blooms of a Pink Tassel Tree

The pink tassel tree

Look closely at the hundreds of “tassels” which have not yet bloomed. The tree blooms seasonally for a month and a half, starting around December 15. Each bloom lasts about a week. This tree must be a magnificent sight when it is in full bloom.

The common and botanical names of the tree

Aloe and yucca grouping

Distinctive fountain, tree and plantings

Master gardener Anita Force Marshall

The group standing under a Screw Pine tree

The very old Screw Pine tree

The group admiring a Hong Kong orchid tree

The Hong Kong Orchid tree

Close-up of a Hong Kong tree orchid

An “island” consisting of a number of different plants.

We are now on the beach-front side of the resort.

In the “island,” you can see prickly pear cactus, beach daisies, and canna lilies. Indian Hawthorn are behind the beach daisies.

Close-up of the canna lily

Close-up of the periwinkles in the “island”

An Audrette Agave and Sea Lavender

The Sea Lavender from the side

The Sea Lavender was new to most of us, but we all found it to be a very attractive bush.

Giant Crinum Lily

Macho ferns

These antique pioneer roses bloom year round.

Roses and ferns

Marianne and a hibiscus

A Mahogany tree across the street

The buildings across East Gulf Drive are on a canal with boat docks.

Anita and fountain--all with bowls to hold water for birds

A Carambola (Star fruit) tree

Anita gave each of us a very large and perfect-looking carambola from this tree.

Garden club members and Sanibel Moorings sign

Carol, Diane and Katie in front of Cip’s Place Restaurant

Members and guests at our lunch table

A mural painted by Tim Macko in honor of famous Sanibel locals and visitors to Sanibel

Ruth Hunter, front and center, was an actress who played Daisey Mae in “Tobacco Road’ on Broadway.

The restaurant has a flyer that identifies each of the 60 faces in the mural. Among them are such personalities as Porter Goss, former Mayor of Sanibel and CIA Director, Willard Scott, weatherman, J.N. “Ding” Darling, Ann Morrow Lindberg, Thomas Edison, Ponce de Leon, Teddy Roosevelt, Maybelle Stamper, modernist painter and recluse, and Bob Rauschenberg.

On October 10, 2014, the Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council, in cooperation with the Lee County Port Authority, dedicated a Blue Star Memorial Marker in honor of the armed forces that have defended the United States. The ceremony took place in front of the Page Field Base Operations Building at 10:00 AM.

Page Field Base of Operations operated by the Lee County Port Authority

An AT-6 Texan aircraft used to train fighter pilots

during World War II

The plane was so important to the war effort that it was dubbed, “The Pilot Maker.” The plane is on display at Page Field to honor the bravery, sacrifice and patriotism of fighter pilots during the war.

Page Field was named after Captain Channing Page, a local World War I flying ace and the first Floridian to receive a commission in the Army Air Corps. The young captain also received the American Distinguished Service Cross and the French Croix de Guerre. A war hero and aviation pioneer, Page died in a plane crash in 1920 at the age of twenty-seven.

Page Field has a long history of service, both to the nation and Southwest Florida. Built as a civil airport in 1927, it was appropriated by the War Department at the beginning of World War II and was used by the US Army Air Force for antisubmarine patrols and conventional bomber training. It was returned to civil control of the State of Florida and then Lee County after the end of the war.

Guests begin to gather in front of the terminal before the dedication ceremony.

Mae Jean Nothstine, Mistress of Ceremonies and Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council officer, spearheaded the effort to have the Blue Star Memorial Marker installed in front of

the Page Field Terminal.

The Color Guard of VFW Post 8463 participated in the ceremony.

The Posting of the Colors for the Pledge of Allegiance

The Pledge of Allegiance by the Color Guard

Mae Jean reciting the Pledge of Allegiance

The audience during the Pledge of Allegiance

Pastor Steve Hess, Retired Chaplain, giving the invocation

The audience during the invocation

Paula Novander, Garden Council 1st Vice-President, discusses the history of the Blue Star Memorial Marker

The National Council of State Garden Clubs, now known as National Garden Clubs, Inc., started the Blue Star program in 1945 to honor the servicemen and women of the U.S. armed forces. The National Council wanted to memorialize veterans by means of the markers, but also to encourage beautification programs through memorial plantings of native trees and shrubs along with the markers.

The audience, with Berne Davis sitting the 2nd from the left in the front row

Dr. Douglas Renfroe, bass-baritone soloist and Artistic Director of “Voices of Naples,” first relates the history of our national anthem and then sings the anthem.

Color Guard during the National Anthem

The audience during the National Anthem

Commissioner Cecil Pendergass, (ctr-left) Robert M. Ball, Port Authority Executive Director (ctr-right) and Debbie Wyatt-Stotter, President, Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council (right) among the onlookers during the National Anthem

Robert Ball, Debbie Wyatt-Stotter and Mae Jean unveiling the marker

Finishing the unveiling
A blue star is the centerpiece of the memorial sign because it symbolizes the blue star on the World War II service flag. During the war, the service flag bore one blue star to represent each family member serving in the U.S. military and was prominently displayed in the home.

Robert M. Ball, Port Authority Executive Director, makes the official acceptance of the marker.

Debbie Wyatt-Stotter, President, Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council, officially dedicates the marker

The Fort Myers-Lee County Garden Council is continuing the Blue Star tradition by dedicating the Blue Star Memorial Marker to the US military who have served at Page Field Base Operations and also by landscaping the setting in which the marker is placed with diversified indigenous trees and shrubs.