Then and Now at Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
Upland Hillside Early Plantings
| The Upland Garden area was added to the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden in 1944. In the photo below taken on July 30, 1950 we can see the progress made by Garden Curator Martha Crone in transforming the landscape from the domain of sumac and scruffy weeds into a wild flower garden. The path running diagonally from center left across the image is the center hillside path that runs between the current Guideposts 39 to 41. Martha often did mass groupings in her introduction of plants to the Garden and you can see some of that in this photo. Photo from a Kodachrome taken by Martha Crone, courtesy Minnesota Historical Society, Martha Crone Collection. |
 |
| In the photo below we see a similar view today, but in early spring, (May 6, 2008) so the topography is clearly visible. Trees are clearly larger. In the photo at the bottom of the page we see this hillside in summer. |
 |
| Below: Taken from a different perspective, we see the same hillside on July 28, 2008, two days short of 58 years later than the photo at the top. The path runs across the center of the foliage but is hidden by the plant growth. We see a different plant community. Undoubtedly, some of the same plants are present, but it is more diverse, with no mass grouping of plants. |
 |