April through May is the time to enjoy woodland wildflowers.

I suggest visiting Eloise Butler Wildflower Garden in Theodore Wirth Park in Minneapolis. The garden, founded in 1907, is the oldest public native plant garden in the United States. Two others excellent spots are the University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum and Nerstrand Big Woods State Park in Rice County. However, any stretch of deciduous forest that has remained natural is a place to encounter the gems of the plant world — the early wildflowers.

By this point of April or soon after in the southern half of Minnesota, bloodroot, wild ginger, Dutchman's breeches, spring beauty, and white trout lily have sent up leaves and begun blooming. There is a mystique to the forest now, and it gets someone like me to walk wooded paths often. I am out everyday if possible.

One of the earliest plants to appear, the handsome bloodroot emerges from nearly frozen soil, flowering in woodland areas well before trees leaf out. It's a nearly 2-inch flower with 8 to 10 white petals and a golden-yellow center. The flower opens on sunny days and closes again at night. After the petals have fallen, leaving a pointed seed capsule, the leaf grows much larger and is then one of the most beautiful leaves of the forest.

Jim Gilbert's Nature Notes are heard on WCCO Radio at 7:15 a.m. Sundays. His observations have been part of the Minnesota Weatherguide Environment Calendars since 1977, and he is the author of five books on nature in Minnesota. He taught and worked as a naturalist for 50 years.