Spring Bloom Report

Spring is a magical time of year in the parks! One of the best parts of spring is noticing the colorful blooms of wildflowers, shrubs and trees along your Portage Park District trails. Watch this page for updates on what has been seen by our staff. Please remember that these may be incomplete lists. If you observe blooms along the trails, please share your observations with us! 

Do you use iNaturalist? Please manually join our Portage Park District Survey to share your observations with us! If you use iNaturalist in our parks, please double check that you are part of the survey. The project is no longer set up in a way that automatically adds observations without users first having to join the project and agree to the terms of use.

Please note that updates will only include newly observed blooms, so please look at previous weeks' lists as many species will still be in bloom! 

*non-native species

Update 5/1/2026
Foamflower - Tiarella cordifolia
Tuliptree - Liriodendron tulipifera
Mayapple - Podophyllum peltatum
Marsh Violet - Viola palustris
Hawthorn - Crataegus sp.

Update 4/24/26
Blueberry - Vaccinium sp.
Jack-in-the-Pulpit - Arisaema triphyllum
Wild Strawberry - Fragaria virginiana

Update 4/19/26
Great White Trillium - Trillium grandiflorum
Red Trillium - Trillium erectum
Wild Geranium - Geranium maculata
Longspur Violet - Viola rostrata
Sessile Bellwort - Uvularia sessilifolia
Squirrel Corn - Dicentra canadensis
Dutchman's Breeches - Dicentra cucullaria
Cut-leaved Toothwort - Cardamine concatenata
Two-leaved Toothwort - Cardamine diphylla
Blue Cohosh - Caulophyllum thalictroides
Wild Ginger - Asarum canadense

Update 4/6/26
Serviceberry - Amelanchier sp.
Spicebush - Lindera benzoin
American Plum - Prunus americana
Golden Ragwort - Packera aurea
Yellow Trout Lily - Erythronium americanum
Norway Maple - Acer platanoides*
Marsh Marigold - Caltha palustris
American Golden Saxifrage - Chrysosplenium americanum
Cut-Leaved Toothwort - Cardamine concatenata
Early Bluegrass - Poa cuspidata
Pennsylvania Sedge - Carex pensylvanica
Birds's-eye Speedwell - Veronica persica*
Red Deadnettle - Lamium purpureum*

Update 3/29/26
Spring Beauty - Claytonia virginica
Purple Cress - Cardamine douglassii
Spring Draba - Draba verna*
Shepards purse - Capsella bursa-pastoris*
Striped Cream Violet - Viola strata
Common Blue Violet - Viola sororia
Hooded Blue Violet - Viola communus
American Elm - Ulmus americana
Bloodroot - Sanguinaria canadensis
Round lobed hepatic - Hepatica americana
Willow - Salix sp

Update 3/13/26
Eastern Skunk Cabbage - Symplocarpus foetidus
Silver Maple - Acer saccharinum
Red Maple - Acer rubrum
Coltsfoot - Tussilago farfara*