Phyllis Root on MPRThis year, along with looking for native wildflowers and writing about native wildflowers, I get to talk about native wildflowers on the radio.  How cool is that? MPR’s Morning Edition with Cathy Wurzer is broadcasting audio postcards from Kelly Povo and me based on our book Searching for Minnesota’s Native Wildflowers (University of Minnesota Press, 2018). We’ll record our wildflowers sightings and send them in from the places we visit, hoping to encourage other wildflower seekers and spread the word that native wildflowers matter, not just because they are beautiful (which they are); they are also important to pollinators and other wildlife, help to store carbon, filter water, prevent erosion—the list goes on and on.

The first interview is about skunk cabbage, our first springtime flower that we see. You can hear it here.

 After a hard winter of cold, snow, sleet, more cold, more snow, and a flood of meltwater, we’re ecstatic to see skunk cabbage, a sure sign of spring in a climate where socks are essential winter wear.