Even though Elisabet Ney’s vegetable garden no longer exists, there are still banana trees in front of her studio. Early photographs show that she started growing large banana trees at her Austin studio after spending years surrounded by them while she lived on Madeira Island.

Madeira island is part of the Arquipelago da Madeira in the North Atlantic Ocean, belonging to Portugal. This is where Edmund Montgomery had established a medical practice for a time. They were also married there, and her Austin studio is named Formosa in remembrance of her studio on the island.