Last week while visiting Lyons Woods, I noticed that a large patch of garlic mustard was quivering. When I got closer, I found that it was not the breeze making the plants sway, but rather a huge group of red admiral butterflies (Vanessa atalanta) flitting from flower to flower. In many areas, all you have to do is walk out your front door to witness the population explosion of these ubiquitous butterflies that is sweeping the northeastern United States this spring.
Don’t get me wrong, I love spring, but the first signs of green to shoot out of the leaf litter stink! While this spring seems to be on fast-forward, with many woodland wildflowers appearing almost to six weeks early, the first plants to sprout in Lake County were still the stinky duo of skunk cabbage (Symplocarpus foetidus), and Chicago‘s supposed namesake, wild leek (Allium tricoccum). The Native American tribes of this region called the plant in question “shikaakwa” or “chicagoua”.
Lake County Nature 