06/03/2026
ASLA MN Education Symposium Speaker highlight:
Session 5 – How the Garden Grows: Nurturing Nature, Nourishing Community at the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden by Susan Wilkens, Garden Curator, Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden
When you step into a space, like a garden, and experience a felt shift within you, do you wonder what is influencing that change? Join a thoughtful conversation about how we tend to the multi-faceted experience that is the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden. Its sensory richness, intentional simplicity, and community-centered focus invite visitors to engage with plants, nature, and each other, fostering deep and nourishing connections within this beloved and biodiverse space. From plant collections curation and visitor care to new initiatives and amenities, explore the perceptive and dynamic processes that shape this public sanctuary, holding both people and plants in community at the nation’s oldest public wildflower garden.
Susan Wilkins is Garden Curator of the Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden, a historic 18-acre native plant botanic garden. For more than 22 years, she has led the stewardship of its diverse plant collections. In addition to overseeing horticultural operations, she directs the Garden’s education programs, visitor services, and volunteer initiatives while cultivating partnerships and community engagement efforts that extend the Garden’s impact.
Wilkins also serves ex officio on the Friends of the Wildflower Garden board. With a background in restoration ecology and landscape design, including previous work as a garden designer, she brings a thoughtful, place-based approach to public garden management.
