About the Friends
Events
Annual Meeting - October 10, 2023, 7 PM. Guest speaker - Alan Branhagen. Details here.
Organization:
The Friends of the Wildflower Garden, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) Minnesota Non-profit corporation founded in 1952 by a group of private citizens. Our mission is to protect, preserve, and promote the interests of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary as a sanctuary for native flora and fauna of Minnesota, and to educate and inspire all people in relating to the natural world. We offer assistance for the garden in the form of funding and volunteer support and transportation grants to Minneapolis Public Schools for students to visit the Garden. (Complete Mission Statement.) You can support our mission by your annual support pledges, memorials, donations and volunteer activities. We are an all-volunteer organization with no paid staff, no offices.
The Garden
The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary, founded in 1907, is owned and operated by the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board.
Many Ways to Support the Wildflower Garden:
Funding: Annual support contributions, periodic or one-time contributions and memorials to the friends are tax deductible and fund our mission. Our administrative and fund raising expenses are funded by non-contribution resources. Gifts "in honor of" a living person or memorials for a deceased person are accepted and encouraged.
Volunteer support: A contribution of your time in various volunteer activies regarding the Garden and the friends is encouraged.
Please use the " Donate & Support" Menu above for more details.
Our Newsletter - The Fringed Gentian™: Details at this link
Friends News: - Recent news notes.
Thoughts of our Founder
1952: Clinton Odell describes the Garden and why he started The Friends of the Wildflower Garden.
More information tabs about the Friends.
Garden theme items sponsored by The Friends
Below: 18 years ago the Avery Birding Terrace was completed with funds from the Friends. This plateau, midway between the lower and upper gardens, was dedicated to Ken Avery, Garden Curator and Gardener 1959-1986. He was a birding enthusiast and he kept records of bird sighting in the Wildflower Garden.
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