Friends of the Wildflower Garden Inc

For 74 years our mission has been to protect, preserve, and promote the interests of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary.

The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden and Bird Sanctuary is the oldest public wildflower garden in the United States and is a part of the Minneapolis Parks System. This nature reserve requires constant care and maintenance to preserve the collection and serve the public. 

The Friends of the Wildflower Garden is a volunteer run non-profit  support organization for the Wildflower Garden and is funded  via donations, gifts and memorials. All contributed funds received go toward fulfilling our mission. Our work has two components: Education and material projects.

We provide supplemental funding for the plant collection and infrastructure upgrades and we provide transportation funding  to bring school age children to the Garden for an educational experience with a Garden Naturalist.

Goals:  Our current goals are:

 1) To replenish our annual budget for transportation funding for the 2026 visiting season. We provided $26,000 in funding over the past 15 years.

2)  To provide up to $100,000 in funding for assistance to the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board in renovating the entrance area of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden to provide better ADA access, meeting space and enhanced visitor greeting area.