Spring was a late arrival this year, and so were the bluebells and bees; much better late than never . . .

This post is about Eastern Skunk Cabbage; there are no wildlife pics (sorry), just images (4) of the first native spring wildflower to bloom in this part of northern Illinois . . .

The Virginia Bluebells are out in full force here in northern Illinois. Love this time of the year . . .

We had some unusually warm weather (80+ F) for early April here in northern Illinois this week for a couple of days, so just in case it triggered a few early bloomers, headed out to a local forest preserve to check it out . . .

The woods are alive around here in northern Illinois with autumn splendor, especially the hard maples. Soon the fruits of the maple trees (which are called samaras  - the helicopters or spinners) will be falling to the ground just before the leaves give way. A magical time of the year!

Spotted touch-me-nots, aka orange jewelweed (impatiens capensis), are a native wildflower of Illinois and were in bloom a couple of weeks ago at Moraine Hills State Park. They are popular with pollinators, and I observed this first hand . . .