Recently I visited the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden & Bird Sanctuary located within Theodore Wirth Regional Park in Minneapolis. This site was the first stop on the 2016 Garden Bloggers Fling.
Our tour was met by a great group of Naturalists who kindly took us around the garden. I was immediately struck by the quote on the front gate “Let Nature Be Your Teacher”. This is so fitting for all of those times you try and fail and try again in the garden. The quote is also appropriate as Eloise Butler was a retired Botany teacher who would bring her students to the gardens in the early 1900’s.
There were beautiful flowers everywhere you looked. I enjoyed the rustic feel of the park; narrow paths, discrete markers, and flowers in every stage of bloom.
The unfortunate part of this stop was that I had my camera in the wrong mode so none of those pictures turned out. Luckily I took a few with my phone that turned out. While I’m bummed not to have photos of all the great plantings, I live close enough to the park that I can go and revisit again.
One could definitely spend a couple hours here walking around. I can’t wait to go back!
P.S. If anyone knows the name of the flower in the first photo – I’d love to know what it is!
Recreational Gardener 
It was so nice to meet you at the Fling, and now I look forward to checking out your blog. That first flower is St. John’s wort (Hypericum) — a beauty, right?
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Hi Pam – It was lovely meeting you too! I can’t wait to read your book! Thanks for identifying the flower for me.
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Hello. So glad you joined the Fling this year and hope you attend others. That first photo is Hypericum pyramidatum from my readings about what is in bloom at the Sanctuary right now.
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Great photos, Sarah! That’s one spot that I’d love to return to – so much natural beauty!
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It was so great to meet you! I hope to see you again next year. Hypericum is great plant. There are many varieties available. It has such cheerful flowers.
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One thing I noticed about all the Hypericums we saw in Minneapolis: they cause bee dances to happen! One reason to have such a sunny plant in the garden. Also, the fruits are a great addition to flower arrangements. Happy First Fling! Are you hooked now?
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