Happy Friday! It’s freezing outside, so we thought you might appreciate some flowers today. This video was taken at Rice Lake State Park on a windy spring day last year, and showcases some of the park’s spring ephemerals. Spring ephemerals are early wildflowers that bloom very briefly before withering, leaving only their roots and bulbs for the remainder of the year. | Minnesota State Parks and Trails

I’ve decided to try my hand at growing native spring ephemerals. These are plants that bloom very early in spring when there’s no leaves on the trees yet. This is a great way to add beautiful color to your shade gardens. The bed in this video video faces east and gets sun and the ephemerals that prefer more shade are gonna go behind the newly planted service berries so they will get lots of shade. Towards the front of the bed, I have lots of plants like Pennsylvania sedge and columbine and that’

Daffodils are beautiful spring ephemerals that are not native to North America. An Ephemeral is a plant that blooms in spring and then dies back completely underground by mid-summer. Virginia bluebells, Mertensia virginica, are a spring ephemeral that blooms at the same time and is native too much of central North America and all the way east to the coast. They prefer partial Sun and shady locations that are medium moisture. Native bees, butterflies and moths will visit this plant for nectar and