1910
History of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden

Preliminary notes about the plants. Native Status: Some of the plants obtained by Eloise Butler in the early years of the Garden were not native to Minnesota or if native, may have been difficult to establish in the Garden. Most of these are no longer present. Martha Crone was somewhat more selective of native plant material, but also brought in many species not native to the State, and many of her imports have not survived either. The plants illustrated here, so one can see what they looked like, are mostly of the class no longer extant in the Garden. Species still extant at the time of Martha Crone's 1951 census are marked "(M.C.)". As for plants mentioned here that are still present in the Garden today, there may have been numerous re-plantings, and most have a web link to a detailed information/photo page, or, if not, are noted as being present in the Garden today - these are not illustrated in this article. Botanical classification: Over the years Botanists have reclassified many plants from the classifications in use at the time Eloise Butler wrote her Garden Log or when Martha Crone prepared her census. I have retained the nomenclature that Eloise Butler or Martha Crone used and then provided the more current classification as used by the major listings in use today, particularly Flora of North America and the Checklist of the Vascular Flora of Minnesota from the University of Minnesota Herbarium.

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Beginning with the spring of 1910 and for all the following years, Eloise Butler would remain in the city to be near her Garden. This year, and after she had retired from teaching in 1911, her summer trips back east to visit her sister Cora would now be restricted to the winter months. March 1910 was the warmest March in all local history down to the present day, (as of 2020) allowing Garden activities to start early.

Eloise began her Garden activities around March 21st, while the school year was still in session. She noted on that date that the frost was out of the ground and that she planted three Skunk cabbages (Symplocarpus foetidus) from a source in Minnetonka plus she planted some Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria) (photo at top of page) in the "swamp."

She continued extensive planting for the next three weeks. This first group includes species that are still extant in the Garden and can be viewed by visitors. Click the link on the name for more detailed information and photos of each species:

Blue Violets,
False Rue Anemone,
American Cranberrybush,
Jacob's Ladder,
Twoleaf Miterwort,
New England Asters,
Ninebark,
Self-heal,
Shooting Star and
Witch Hazel.

She reported on the 14th of April that she replanted a variety of trees in the “Pinetum” to replace those destroyed by fire, which indicates an early spring grass fire had done some damage. As only the original 3 acres were fenced at this time, it could have been set by someone also. The Garden at this date was 7 acres in size. (2) In April 1934 there was another fire in this area that started outside the Garden fence, (fence of 1924 vintage) consumed a small building and did some damage within the Garden. (The "Pinetum" was located west of the wetland in what is now the NW hillside corner of the Woodland Garden.)

April 17th brought snow and heavy frost for the next three nights but new planting continued. Some of the sources for her plants were on the East Coast: Kelsey’s Nurseries, Boxford MA and Gillett’s Nursery, Southwick, MA. Local sources included Groveland Park, St. Paul; Fort Snelling; Osceola, WI; Mahtomedi; Glenwood Park; and Cokato, MN.

Eloise noted that from Osceola see obtained Steironema ciliatum - now named Lysimachia ciliata, which is Fringed Loosestrife, and only “discovered that the latter was indigenous and abundant!” On April 18th "Robert-runaway" was in bloom. In the previous year (1909) she had planted Dalibarda repens which is called Robin-runaway.

In May her plantings of extant plants included:

Northern Bush Honeysuckle,
Goldenseal,
Large Flowered Trillium,
Nodding Wild Onion,
Northern Bedstraw,
Purple Trillium
Prairie Rose,
Red Baneberry,
Shrubby St. Johnswort,
Snow Trillium,
Spiderwort
Sissileleaf Bellwort (Wild Oats).

Early Plantings not present today:

Eloise also brought into the Garden a number of new species, many are no longer extant. Many of these were native to Minnesota and a few were not. Here is a listing of those plants introduced to the Garden for the first time this spring - 1910 is the first year the following list of plants occur in her log.

Native:

• Bearberry (Kinnikinnick); (M.C.), (Arctostaphylos uva-ursi); Kelsey's Nursery, North Carolina. [Photo]
• Brittle (Fragile) Bladder Fern, (Cystopteris fragilis); from Excelsior Springs, MO. Extant.
• Common Goldstar (Yellow star grass); (M.C.), (Hypoxis hirsuta); Cokato, MN.
• Golden Saxifrage, (Chrysosplenium L.); Osceola, WI.
• Groundplum Milkvetch (Ground Plum); (M.C.), (Astragalus caryocarpus - now Astragalus crassicarpus var. crassicarpus); Minnehaha (Minneapolis). [Photo]
• Lance-leaf Tickseed, (Coreopsis lanceolata); Jewell's Nursery, Lake City, MN and Gillett's Nursery, Mass.
• Larkspur (Prairie) Violet (Viola pedatifida); from Minnehaha (Minneapolis). Extant.
• Lesser Rattlesnake Plantain, (M.C.), (Epipactis repens - now Goodyera repens); Kelsey's Nursery, North Carolina.
• Pasque Flowers (Cutleaf Anemone); (M.C.), (Anemone patens ssp. multifida); Minnehaha (Minneapolis).
• Scarlet Indian Paintbrush, (M.C.), (Castilleja coccinea); Fort Snelling and Mahtomedi, MN. [Photo]
• Silverberry (Elaeagnus argentea - now Elaeagnus commutata); Jewell's Nursery, Lake City, MN.
• Tobacco Root (Tap-rooted Valerian or Edible Valerian); (M.C.), (Valeriana edulis); Fort Snelling (Minneapolis).
• Widow's Frill (Starry Campion); (M.C.), (Silene stellata); Kelsey's Nursery, North Carolina [Photo above]. Extant.
• Yellow Water Buttercup; (Ranunculus flabellaris); Mahtomedi, MN.
• Yellow Indian Paintbrush (Downy Painted Cup); (Castilleja sessiliflora); Fort Snelling. (Note: Eloise does not give a botanical name, but this species is the only Yellow Paintbrush native to MN and in the area of her collection so we presume it is this species.)

Non-Native:

• Fire Pink, (M.C.), (Silene virginica); Kelsey's Nursery, North Carolina.
• Pipevine (Dutchman's Pipe), (M.C.), (Aristolochia macrophylla); Jewell's Nursery, Lake City, MN (Note - present in Minnesota, but introduced).
• Southern Arrowwood, (M.C.), (Viburnum pubescens - now Viburnum dentatum var. dentatum); from Osceola, WI. Extant.
• Sweet Birch, (Betula lenta); Kelsey's Nursery, North Carolina.
• Virginia Bunchflower, (Melanthium virginicum now - Veratrum virginicum); Kelsey's Nursery, North Carolina .[Photo]
• Withe-rod, (M.C.), (Viburnum cassinoides - now Viburnum nudum var. cassinoides); Jewell's Nursery, Lake City, MN.

Two newspaper articles were published about the Garden in the spring. There is no by-line and the text may have been written mostly by Eloise herself. In the April 3 article where she is said to be "practically the mother of the garden," it is mentioned that only the Pasque Flower is in bloom. It had been recently planted by Eloise. A long list of plants is covered, discussing the natives vs those introduced.(2)

A May 22 article sets out the lay of the land, why the garden was established, difficulties in finding certain plants - all written similarly to other early articles Eloise wrote about the early garden.(3)

Eloise kept notes of the arrival of various birds, noting the arrival on May 8th of the Peabody Birds (An older term for a White Throated Sparrow). On May 28th she noted the Large Twayblade (Liparis lilifolia) [Photo] was in bloom. This was here first sighting of this plant thus it was indigenous. Twenty five years later Martha Crone would report replanting this species. On the same date Eloise noted that she “stroked the back of a baby crow that sat motionless on a low bough in the swamp.”

Despite the mid-April cold snap, the spring weather was actually quite warm with average temperatures well above average from mid-March to the end of April, with the pattern repeating in June.