After a long Minnesota winter, there are few things more precious than those first spring bulbs. There’s a brief window each year where native spring flowers thrive, and thankfully, Minnesota’s landscape offers plenty of opportunities to marvel at colorful flora in all its glory.
Photo by Jason Boudreau-Landis
To see spring ephemerals, Jake LaVigne, a gardener with the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, recommends visiting wooded areas before the leaf cover fills out in the early summer. “There’s just something very special about these kinds of hidden treasures that live in the woodland and then emerge and disappear,” he says.
During the spring, Minnesotans might also see some “showy blooms that will keep their foliage all year round.” These include flowers like Jack-in-the-pulpits, marsh marigolds, and our state flower, the pink-and-white lady’s slipper, also known as the showy lady’s slipper.
LaVigne added that native flowers also benefit local pollinators, making them invaluable to Minnesota’s ecosystem.
Courtesy of the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum
If you’re thinking about tending your own garden, it’s already past the ideal planting season for these short-lived buds. LaVigne recommends planting in the fall before the ground freezes. However, planting the seeds right before a big snowfall is another option. This will hold the seeds in place and provide some quick moisture. LaVigne’s advice is to plant near woodlands—where the flowers already grow naturally—and to not remove any leaf mulch, as it offers valuable nutrition and provides a layer of insulation for germinating flowers.
To see native spring flowers in and around the Twin Cities, LaVigne suggests Theodore Wirth Regional Park, located west of downtown Minneapolis near Golden Valley. And, of course, there’s the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska, which boasts myriad specialty gardens that burst with life in the spring.
Take a trip south of the Twin Cities and stop at the 800-plus acre Cannon River Wilderness Area right near Faribault, home to early bloomers such as hepaticas, bloodroots, and Dutchman’s breeches. In Owatonna, visit Nerstrand Big Woods State Park, where 11 miles of mostly forested hiking paths makes the area a haven for native spring flowers—including the dwarf trout lily, an endangered, ephemeral wildflower found only in three
Minnesota counties.
Courtesy of Minnesota DNR
If you’re heading to northern Minnesota, check out the blooms in Itasca State Park. It’s the oldest park in the state and spans more than 32,000 acres, with spring ephemerals like round-lobed hepaticas, large-flowered trillium, and others. Later in the season, head to Gooseberry Falls State Park and Jay Cooke State Park—the wooded Gooseberry Falls State Park, located in Two Harbors, is dotted with marsh marigolds, Canada mayflower, and other flora, while Jay Cooke State Park in Carlton boasts spring beauties, trout lilies, and wood anemones.
To catch these flowers in bloom, LaVigne says April is the best time, but May is the best time to see wildflowers in general. Keep an eye on the Arboretum’s Garden Highlights or call the Bloom Line at 612-625-9791 to know exactly which buds are in season. “These spring beauties are fleeting, but well worth the effort,” LaVigne says. “It’s really special to see these things after a long, cold winter.”
