Jason E. Andersen

Happy spring!

Bonus Fun Fact: Pasque flowers are often the first blooming prairie flowers of the spring. Eastern pasque flower (Anemone patens) is a short-statured and quite hairy flower found in dry prairie remnants. It is usually the first wildflower to peek out of dormancy and, to prairie nerds, is a welcome sign of spring. Incidentally, this isn’t the first time I have celebrated a spring marked by pasque flowers.

I saw one such individual on a prairie hike earlier this week, at Kasota Prairie just south of Kasota, Minnesota (pictured below). I have heard people talking about pasque flowers blooming mightily in the Loess Hills of Iowa, but this one has been the first I have seen this year in the further-north latitudes. If you have a chance to go on a hike to look for pasque flowers this spring, I highly recommend it.