Friends of the Wild Flower Garden  
For 60 years - Dedicated to Protecting, Preserving and Promoting
The interests of The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary		  

About the Friends:
Our mission is to protect, preserve, and promote the interests of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary and to educate and inspire people of all ages in relating to the natural world. Membership is open to any interested person or organization that wishes to support the Garden.

More details

 Friends - 60 Years

Join the Friends
We invite you to join us by becoming a member of the Friends of the Wild Flower Garden, Inc. By becoming a member you will join a diverse group who have recognized the value of this small patch of land and wish to honor the vision of an extraordinary woman, Eloise Butler, who first sought to preserve it over a century ago.

More details:

 Friends group

Garden Support
The work of the Friends is funded primarily via donations, gifts and memorials made to the Friends. Virtually all such funds received go toward fulfilling our stated purposes of advancing, promoting and safeguarding the interest of the garden. Our work has two components: Education and material projects. Donations are tax deductible.

More details

 Martha Crone Shelter

About the Garden
The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary is a 15-acre native plant reserve. It is the oldest public wildflower garden in the United States. The Wildflower Garden is owned, operated, staffed and maintained by the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board. Learn about Eloise Butler, the plant community, plant photos, Garden location, open dates and visiting hours.

More details

 Front Gate to Eloise Butler

Volunteer at Eloise Butler
Volunteer work at the Garden can be very rewarding as a time for contemplation of the surroundings and for a feeling of satisfaction from useful work accomplished.
Learn about becoming:
A Garden Shelter Volunteer
A Legacy Volunteer
An Invasive Plant Patrol Volunteer

More details

 Volunteers

Seasonal Photos
Follow the seasons at the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden. Look at the flowering plants by season, individual plant information sheets, the landscape of the Garden, seasonal thumbnail sheets and historical photos of the Garden.

More Details

 Oak on the central hill

Newsletter - The Fringed Gentian™
Published four times a year and available to members by mail or email. Eight pages of Friends activities, educational articles, President's column, Garden Curator's notes. Archive of past issues and articles on this site.

More Details

 Newsletter graphic

Archive
Visit our web archive of:
Educational Articles
Garden History
Friends History
Newsletter columns
Past Newsletter issues

More details

 1935 cabin photo
blank
Friends Projects and Programs Historical Notes Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
Avery Birding Terrace Eloise Butler Upland Garden
1. 2011 Woodland Herbaceous Plants & Canopy/understory trees
2. Children's Transportation Grant
3. Cary George Wetland Project
4. Friend's Past Garden Projects		 Seasonal History - Winter of 1912, 1937, 1962, 1987, 2002 About Eloise Butler
Garden history
Most commonly seen plants
Seasonal thumbnails - spring
Seasonal scenes - winter
 
blank Garden plant of the week

Eloise Butler's Words
“The wild garden has been true to its name and nature in behaving contrary to rule and precedent. Plants sometimes have refused to grow where conditions seemed favorable, and have perversely appeared in unlikely places.”

A seasonal poem and reflection

A winter garden in an alder swamp,
Where conies now come out to sun and romp,
As near a paradise as it can be
And not melt snow or start a dormant tree.

It lifts existence on a plane of snow
One level higher than the earth below,
One level nearer heaven overhead,
And last year's berries shining scarlet red.


Taken from "A Winter Eden", by Robert Frost, (1874-1963)

 Eastern Bottlebrush Grass
"The greatest joy in wintertime is to think of the beauty of coming spring and summer when sunshine again floods the glens, new green and new spring flowers." Martha Crone, Garden Curator 1933-1959 Eastern Bottlebrush grass
Elymus hystrix L.
The seeds have a bristle tip (awns), thus making the flower panicle resemble a bottle brush.
 

Search
This Site

 

President's Letter (pdf)

Garden Curator's Notes (pdf)

Plant information and plant photos are found in the Photo Gallery and in the Site Archive.

The Wild Gardener
Martha Hellander's
book on Eloise Butler

Wild Gardener Book

New Plant Information Sheets
Ironweed Chokecherry Black Chokeberry Black Cherry Burdock Prickly Ash Purple Giant Hyssop

Posting History

Links to other sites

  
© 2012 Friends of the Wild Flower Garden, Inc., P. O. Box 3793, Minneapolis, MN 55403. www.friendsofthewildflowergarden.org or www.friendsofeloisebutler.org. All articles and photos are the property of the Friends of the Wild Flower Garden Inc. unless noted otherwise. Pages on this site will view best at screen width resolutions of 900 pixels or higher.

Contact Us

LAST SITE UPDATE 01/18/12