The first wildflowers to bud around here every spring is the Pasque Flower. "Pasque" is French for Easter. "Pasque" in English translates more as "paschal", as in "paschal mystery," meaning the suffering, death, and resurrection" of Christ. It seems to me a very apt name for a very liturgically-minded plant.
Pasque flowers make good companions with Tulips, which you see in this photo, taken March 20 in St. Joseph. The Tulips are the maroon-colored plants, and the Pasque Flower is the white, fuzzy plant to the back right. Pasque flower is one of the first flowers to bloom in the spring, often coming up while there is still snow on the ground. Look for it on south facing slopes in dry to average sandy soil, typically in scattered clumps.
Pasque flowers are an invaluable source of early season nectar for honey and native bees.
Pasque flower is a very delicate, leaning when the wind blows.
Although a native, it struggles to self seed. It is more common to see them in cultivated landscapes as garden plants. They make a for a wonderful plant as nothing flowers sooner than the Pasque flower. They are in Minnesota and throughout much of North America. We start them as plugs in our green house, and then transplant them into landscapes later in the season. As plugs, they seem to do well.