The months of November to February were the mildest in local weather history - by more than 2 degrees. From January through late February there were only three days where the temperature was not above the average. There were a number of snowfalls, but they were very light and only in March when the temperatures became more normal did any significant snowfall occur.

Park Board Operations Director and Friends board member Jeff Lee reported that during the period that the Garden was seasonally closed, the rebuilding of the path from the Martha Crone Visitors Shelter to the bog path was completed. The Friends had funded the materials. The work was done by Tree Trust. (See Autumn 2001 History) Also, all the deer that had been in the Garden the prior year were removed and at the Park Board’s Environmental workday the previous October, a lot of buckthorn was removed.

This year would be the 50th anniversary of the founding of The Friends of the Wild Flower Garden. A 50th anniversary committee had been formed in late 2001 and they had met several times prior to a board meeting of the Friends held on January 14th. There would be several main events that would mark the Anniversary: A public celebration would be held at the Garden on Mother’s Day, May 12 and a memory book would be compiled for a history of the first 50 years.

At the Friends Board meeting there was discussion on the purpose of The Friends and it was confirmed that their mission was one of providing education and information about the Garden, and also one of support for the Garden in both a financial and promotional way.

In that light it was decided that as a major 50th anniversary project, The Friends would fund replacing 210 feet of chain-link fence at the back gate of the Garden with wrought iron fencing similar to that at the front gate in order to make the back gate area more esthetically pleasing. This work would cost about $16,000 and a major fund raising effort was needed to accomplish this major project.

Discussion was also taking place on a suitable project in remembrance of the Garden’s third curator, Ken Avery. It would be 2005 before the project was completed.

In The Friends newsletter, The Fringed Gentian™, Friends president Steve Pundt revisited the history of Friends founder Clinton Odell and his relationship with the Garden, in an article titled Story of the ‘First Friend’. Reprinted, was an essay by Clinton Odell about his vision for the Garden. (Text).

Gardener Cary George contributed an article on Evergreens for Future Generations. Nine of the 15 conifers native to Minnesota were represented in the Garden at that time and Cary reviewed their status. MPRB Naturalist Debbie Keyes wrote about Winter Botanizing and the Volunteer Spotlight was on Shirley Schultz, volunteer coordinator and Friends Board Member (photo at right). The entire issue is accessed via this pdf file (Winter 2002, Vol. 50 #1).

The Garden did not open until April 7th due to snow and ice on the paths from the late March snowfalls. Judy Jones was the shelter volunteer on that Sunday. After the slow start to April, the weather took a turn upwards with mid-April temperatures well above normal.

Two volunteer training sessions were held prior to the Garden opening. Five new volunteers were recruited. The Friends had a board meeting on April 8th to discuss their upcoming 50th Anniversary celebration, planning for honoring Ken Avery and progress on the project to replace the Garden back gate fence.

The big event of the Spring was the Mother’s Day Celebration (May 12th) of the Friends 50th Anniversary, held at the Garden. It was a chilly day but many people arrived including Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak, Park Board Commissioner Vivian Mason, Martha Hellander, who autographed her book The Wild Gardener, on the life of Eloise Butler, Clinton B. Odell, the grandson of Friends founder Clinton Odell, Lynda Wander, the grandaugher of Martha Crone. You can read all the details and see the photos in this article.

In the spring issue of the Friend’s Newsletter, The Fringed Gentian™, Friend’s president Steve Pundt, looking ahead to the next 50 years of the Friends wrote

“As we begin the 51st year of the Friends, we must reaffirm our goal to educate the public (and ourselves) about the preservation of native plants. The Garden as a native preserve is constantly at risk. the Garden is threatened on all sides by alien invaders, with the main threats coming from gypsy months, garlic mustard, buckthorn and deer.”

Gardener Cary George wrote about the gypsy moth devastation of the eastern states and with the species now found in Minneapolis, it is now knocking at the Garden’s door. Naturalist Debbie Keyes wrote about a Summer Tanager that arrived in the Garden (a rare sighting). The bird was malnourished and it was subsequently determined that it had a fractured bone in the shoulder and wing. It was captured and taken to the Wildlife Rehab Center for care. The “Meet the Volunteer” spotlight was on Gloria Miller, past president of the Friends. The entire issue is accessed via this pdf file (Spring 2002, Vol. 50 #2).

This spring Cary George added to the Garden stock Virginia Bluebells, (Mertensia virginica), Spring Beauty (Claytona virginica) and Round-lobed Hepatica (Hepatica americana - now - Hepatica nobilis Schreb. var. obtusa). A big concern of his and the Friends was the harvesting of plants by interlopers in the Garden. It has become a spring-time problem as the plants taken are those that can be considered “greens” and “potherbs”. Cary frequently would confiscate bags of picked plants and ask the people to leave the Garden.

The Annual Meeting of The Friends of the Wild Flower Garden was held at the Martha Crone Shelter in the Garden, on Monday May 13th, the day following the Anniversary Celebration. There was discussion about the Mountain Bike Trail development in Wirth Park and the current problem of off-trail use. Cary George mentioned that the garter snakes and the fox family were back in the Garden - a positive environmental sign. Re-elected to their positions were Steve Pundt as president, Lyle Johnson as vice-president, Gary Bebeau as treasurer and Juanita Lussenhop as Secretary. Additional directors were Stephen Benson, Harriet Betzold (Volunteer Coordinator), Joy Davis (membership chair) , Ann Godfrey, Marguerite Harbison (memorials chair), Lisa Locken (Fringed Gentian™ editor), Gloria Miller (Historian), Constance Pepin, Sally Pundt, Shirley Schultz, Jack Schultz, Pam Weiner and Cary George, ex-officio. Membership totaled 238.

On June 12th, the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board passed a resolution to formally recognize and thank the Friends for their half-century of support of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden. You can read the entire proclamation in the Summer 2002 issue of The Fringed Gentian™ or HERE.

In the Friends Newsletter, The Fringed Gentian™, volunteer and Board member Launa Ellison writes about the many benefits of children visiting the Garden in an article titled “It’s About the Children.” Gardener Cary George writes about “The Pea Family Thrives in Hot Prairie Sun”, an article you can read in our archive. The book - Weeds of the Northern U.S. & Canada is reviewed; “Meet the Volunteers” spotlights Debbie Norgaard and Joe Schwartz. Garden Naturalists provide excerpts from their log - summer highlights.

Connie Pepin writes “Mosquito Memories”, a tale of Theodore Wirth’s 1933 Garden visits for the memorials to Eloise Butler and his encounter with the swarms of mosquitos the frequently encountered in the Garden. Martha Crone’s reply to him is classic Crone: “I wish to offer my apologies for the ill manners of my mosquitoes, they are rather difficult to train as each one lives only a short time.” Parks Superintendent Charles Dowll’s concerns about the use of DDT by the Park Board is also reported in this article also. The entire issue is accessed via the file link below.

Attendance at the Garden was good over the summer. There was a controversy about the Park Board’s proposal to instigate a parking pass fee for park car lots. It eventually was resolved that there would be both meters and spaces for cars with parking passes.

There was a two week power outage in the Garden due to a lightning strike on a nearby power transformer. There were significant storms during a very wet June, July and August.

Summer 2002 issue of The Fringed Gentian™ (pdf)

The main Garden project for the Friends this year was fencing. By the end of the year the Friends had collected $2,566 toward the cost of the new wrought iron fence at the Garden’s back entrance. Construction would eventually take place in 2005.

At the Friends board meeting on Oct. 7th at the Golden Valley Historical Center, Gardener Cary George reported on the parking pass issue. The controversy about the Park Board’s proposal to instigate a parking pass fee for park car lots was still being discussed. The Board voted to send a letter of opposition to the Park Board and to Mayor Rybak. It eventually was resolved that there would be both meters and spaces for cars with parking passes.

A volunteer luncheon was held on Nov. 23 at the Golden Valley American Legion Club, organized by Marguerite Harbison, Harriet Betzold and Nita Lussenhop. (photo below)

The plan for honoring former Gardener Ken Avery was coming together in the form of a bird watching area. Board member Connie Pepin had been in contact with Ken’s widow Muriel, and she was in favor of this type of honor. Landscape architect George Watson has offered his services in designing the area, the Park Board has surveyed the site and Watson is to submit designs to the Park Board for approval. The plan was carried out in 2005.

Board member Pam Weiner was coordinating a group working up designs for a Friends 50th anniversary memory book that would be published the following year.

In the Friends Newsletter, The Fringed Gentian™, President Steve Pundt reviewed Eloise Butler’s original concept of the Garden and how the Friends have provided assistance in furthering her concepts. He concluded with"

“Maintaining the Garden as a natural preserve won’t happen without active, but gentle, management. Our task for the net 50 years of this organization is to keep working to maintain that delicate balance.”

Gardener Cary George wrote about “Trees: the Backbone of our Woodland Garden.” He discussed the habitat that the trees provide in the Woodland Garden. For example, while night tracking deer by a crew of the Wildlife Research Center, they counted over 50 raccoons in the Garden. Cary gave the methodology for determining the age of a tree of a given species, finding for instance, that the white oak just inside the front gate to be approximately 185 years old. The center spread of the issue was a contact print of 28 different tree leaves found in the Garden. This was the work of John Maciejny [photo right], a recently retired science teacher and Friends member. This identification key represented half of the species in the Garden.

The Garden naturalists again presented excepts from their Garden Logs. The Book of Herbal Wisdom, Using Plants as Medicine was reviewed. In "Meet the Volunteer", the spotlight was on long-time volunteer and member Betty Bryan. The entire issue is accessed via the pdf file link at the right.

The Garden closed on October 15th, which has since become the annual closing date. Jean Herzberg was the Shelter volunteer on that day. The closing signaled the end of precipitation also as from late October to the end of the year there was only a trace of moisture. No snow on the ground at the end of the year.