Lift your spirits with a springtime stroll, or maybe even a frolick, amidst the flowers of Chicagoland’s woodlands.

Welcome to a brand new year and a brand new day with the premiere wildflower guide for the 2026 growing season! Visit Chicagoland’s woodlands for our first spring blooms.

SPRING WILDFLOWER SLIDESHOW PREVIEW

It’s official! Skunk cabbage is popping up. And that means the beginning of spring in the Chicago area. Here is my poem to commemorate the occasion…

Chicago Region Tops U.S. National Parks in Native Plant Biodiversity! Part 2 (Originally published on 1-17-2018 and updated on 1-14-2026)   Last week, in the first part of this series, I compared the natural splendor of the Chicago region to the sixty-three U.S. national parks. I framed the beauty and biodiversity of the Chicago region in terms of the famed and...