This University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Spring Flower Show opens Saturday with mushrooms and magic fairy houses for its new "Enchanted Forest" theme.

With the help of local artists and mycologists (mushroom experts, for the uninitiated) the arboretum has put together a new flower show meant to fill attendees with a sense of wonderment for the processes of the natural world, arboretum horticulturist Jared Rubinstein said.

The show will feature plants and fungi at all stages of their lifecycles, Rubinstein said. Decaying logs, bulbs with shoots just emerging and flowering adult plants, among others, all are interspersed with artist-crafted fairy houses and other amusements.

"There'll be a woodland scavenger hunt for kids," Rubinstein said. "[And] some of the more whimsical elements mixed in with this idea about the natural cycle of life."

You can see the flower show at the Minnesota Landscape Arboretum in Chaska Saturday through March 16, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. The show will close at 6 p.m. starting March 9.

There also will be three After Hours with the Flowers events on Feb. 21, 28 and March 7 where you can enjoy a nature-themed board game and drinks from the margarita bar. The bar will even have two specialty cocktails — the Primrose Collins and the Hibiscus Twist. After Hours with the Flowers will run 6-9 p.m., tickets $20 for the public, $10 for members.

Every week, a new florist will come in and add new cut flowers to the show, replacing and composting the flowers from the week before, arboretum signature events coordinator Wendy Composto said. The flower show is a great opportunity to support the arboretum, learn more about flowers and fungi, and escape the dreariness of winter.

"We do have somebody talking about houseplants, but we also have someone talking about orchids," Composto said. "Last year, that was a standing-room-only crowd."

For horticulturist Jewel Engstrom, this year is her last opportunity to share her creativity through the flower show before she retires. Engstrom started working at the horticultural center 43 years ago, and the favorite part of her job has been working on seasonal events like the Spring Flower Show. She's responsible for much of the show's design.

"You just start doing a few daffodil bouquets on the table, then all of a sudden they want you to do the pancake brunch tables, then that turns into Mother's Day and Easter brunch," Engstrom said. "And this flower show has been fun to do, too."

It can be hard to get through the sunless days of February, but seeing so many happy people at the show is really fulfilling, Engstrom said. A lot of people check out the arboretum on Mother's Day, she added, but the flower show is unique as it brings people out when they wouldn't otherwise be in nature.

"Slow down and take in the natural world," Rubinstein said. "We don't always enjoy doing that in the dead of winter."

University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum Spring Flower Show

When: Saturday-March 16, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. through March 8 and 9 a.m.-6 p.m. March 9-16.

Where: University of Minnesota Landscape Arboretum, 3675 Arboretum Drive, Chaska.

Cost: $20 for the public, free for members.

Info: arb.umn.edu