Minneapolis at a Distance (MN) [1]
Minneapolis is not just a bustling city with skyscrapers, museums, theaters and galleries; it is an extraordinary blend of Mother Nature and the metropolitan. Escape the hectic urban scene and enjoy the serenity of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden where a meandering trail takes you deep into the wildflower-filled woodland. Or if unusual art is more your style, visit the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden where giant sculptures amid fields and flowers can capture your imagination. Come visit these extraordinary gardens along Grand Rounds Scenic Byway where the metropolitan mingles with natural beauty of these urban gardens.
Eloise Butler, a schoolteacher dedicated to preserving the natural beauty of Minnesota, founded the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden over one hundred years ago. As a result of her and three other botany teachers’ petitions, the Minneapolis Park Board created a three-acre preserve for native flora, an immense wildflower garden that Ms. Butler tended all her life.
Since its creation in 1907, the preserve has grown to nearly 15 acres and offers fantastic examples of Minnesota’s finest natural habitats of deciduous forest, wetlands, and upland prairie. The Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden in Theodore Wirth Park on the western part of the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway is the oldest public wildflower garden in the nation and home to over 500 plant species.
From April to October the garden offers a variety of plant, bird and butterfly habitats. Come walk through the woodlands in April and May when the colorful bloodroot, wild ginger, trillium, bluebells, and trout lilies are in season. Or enjoy the showy elegance of lady slippers, irises, and cardinal flowers that the months of June and July bring. Asters, sunflowers, blazing stars, and goldenrods fill the prairies in late summer while September showcases a fiery canopy of autumn leaves. Take a moment to pause on the hilly, woodchipped pathways, and you might hear the calls of a Trumpeter Swan or Scarlet Tanager. Walk down to the low, boggy area through dappled, ferny woodlands then ascend the trail to the silken blanket of prairie grasses waving in the gentle breeze.
Spoonbridge and Cherry at Minneapolis Sculpture Garden (MN) [5]
Known as the largest urban sculpture garden in the country, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden is eleven acres of fun and whimsy. Located along the Grand Rounds Scenic Byway to the west of I-35W and downtown Minneapolis, the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden was created in 1988 by the Minneapolis Park & Recreation Board as part of the Walker Art Center to offer a variety of modern art pieces amidst a gorgeous garden landscape.
Stroll through the lawns and shrubs of the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden and contemplate its larger than life art. The eye-catching Spoonbridge and Cherry at the center of the Garden was created by a husband and wife team in the mid ‘80s. Both a fountain and a sculpture, it was inspired by a novelty item -- a spoon resting on a glob of fake chocolate. Breathe in the fragrant aroma of exotic orchids as you tour the Garden's Cowles Conservatory where Frank Gehry's Standing Glass Fish steals the show. Created in 1986, this 22-foot creature is nestled among an elegant backdrop of a fantastic lily pond, Mexican fan palms, and calamondin orange trees.
The Garden's spectacular Alene Grossman Memorial Arbor is a fantastic feature that cannot be missed. Enjoy the red cardinal climber and hyacinth bean species as they sheathe stainless-steel arches. Take in the colorful clematis and morning glory in the summer while the Siberian iris, black-eyed Susan, bee balm, false indigo, candy lily, balloon flower, aster, cosmos, and heliotrope flank the southern border of the arbor in August. On the northern edge, shade-tolerant varieties like meadow rue, bleeding heart, and astilbe thrive. Enjoy the colorful, artistic display as it changes throughout the growing season along this 300-foot walk.
From the tranquil lush retreat of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden to the extraordinary combination of modern and living art at the Minneapolis Sculpture Garden, you’ll find just the right botanical experience for you at Grand Rounds Scenic Byway.
