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Eloise Butler and Her Wild Flower Garden - Page 4

© Mary Henry

Eloise continued to botanize wherever she was throughout her life. Many native plants could not be bought from the nurseries of the day, so she collected at every opportunity. Once, she and Cora were traveling between Malden and Minneapolis through southern Canada by train when a train wreck occurred that left them stranded for a time. Since they were unhurt, they plunged into the wilderness around them and collected plants for the Garden. Back on the train later, their clothing had to make room in the suitcases for the new plants to go with them.

In 1929, the Park Board named the garden the Eloise Butler Wild Flower Garden in recognition of her lifelong commitment to it. She continued her strenuous work into her eighty first year in her beloved garden and, quite naturally, died there on the afternoon of April 10, 1933 in the only place she wanted to be. According to her wishes, she was cremated and her ashes spread in the garden. Her legacy to her contemporaries was one of the finest, and most complete native plant gardens then in existence.

Time and urban development have changed the garden today. The water table is lower and the soil dryer. The use of highly treated city water as the irrigation source has changed the pH and mineral relations too. Many of the rare, site dependent treasures she nurtured have disappeared. Though still very beautiful during the flowering season, it is not the same place it was in her day, a caution to those of us who draw our own visions in our gardens. If you are in Minneapolis this spring, make a trip to Theodore Wirth Park and find the nook in its large area that is the Eloise Butler Wild Flower Garden. Walk the paths, enjoy the flowers and say Hi! to Eloise.

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