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. The Friends of the Wild Flower Garden work in conjunction with the Park Board but are an independent private nonprofit organization.
The Wildflower Garden consists of three main ecosystems; a wetland complex referred to as the "Woodland Garden," upland hardwood forest and oak savanna, together referred to as the "Upland Garden". With over 500 plant species and more than 130 species of resident and migratory birds found in the Wildflower Garden, this delightful public native plant reserve is a true haven for the flora and fauna of our region, as well as for the many people who visit it. It is maintained in a natural rustic state not with defined beds and plantings.
In addition to native plants and birds, many other creatures call the Wildflower Garden home: Raccoons, chipmunks, rabbits, red foxes, woodchucks, red and gray squirrels, mice, shrews, voles, moles, bats, frogs, toads, turtles and snakes. Deer, muskrats, opossums, mink and skunk have all been spotted nearby and may be visitors in the Wildflower Garden as well, although perhaps, unwelcome.
The Wildflower Garden was founded in 1907 by a visionary botany teacher in the Minneapolis public school system named Eloise Butler. Ms. Butler became the official curator of the Wildflower Garden in 1911 and dedicated herself to the care, management and expansion of the Wildflower Garden until her death in 1933. Four gardener/curators have followed in her footsteps up to the present. It was she who inspired her former student Clinton Odell, one of the early benefactors of the Wildflower Garden, to found the Friends of the Wild Flower Garden, Inc. The Garden Curator is Susan Wilkins.
For additional information and history of the Garden, use the links at the left.
