I stopped yesterday at one of my favorite rest stops on 35W north of the Twin Cities, but south of Duluth. Behind the garage I have seen thousands of white trillium in previous years. But I was too early this year.
Instead I found little white and violet colored May flowers (Hepatica americana). When I was a child we had an eastern facing hillside with Hepatica. We always called them May Flowers, because they bloomed for May Day. Like other early spring flowers, they bloom to attract early pollinators before the leaves of the overhead trees shade them out.
I had never seen them in this location before, but spring is a little late this year, and I am a little early. Probably they will be followed by the trillium. I only saw one trillium leaf stalk, an early tripartite leaf ready to go. It will bloom in a couple of weeks after the Hepatica have finished blooming.
Take a few minutes to walk in the woods this time of year. These little flowers that need the early spring sun will disappear and not be seen again until next spring.
