Northern Indiana along the shore of Lake Michigan has had a cold and wet spring, delaying the onset of the spring wildflowers. Recent previous hikes had shown a few signs of the impending explosion of spring growth. On the first day of May I went to the Herron Rookery trail in the Indiana Dunes National Park on the suspicion that the trail along the river would be blooming. This trail is reputed to be the best in the park for spring wild flowers and in the past it has not disappointed, nor did it let me down this time. It may come a little late to this region, but Spring is finally starting to show itself. The trail was so beautiful that I only covered about 2 miles round trip in over 4 hours.
Lots of Mayapple. Note that the purple flowers atop the plant are not from the Mayapple itself. The flower of the Mayapple is underneath the umbrella of leaves. Perhaps in another week they will be showing.
The whole trail was chock full of blooming wild flowers, as far as the eye could see through the forrest. Mostly white blossoms with some hints of the yellows, blues and purples soon to come.
I almost missed this Jack in the Pulpit. Another group of hikers spotted it right after I had passed it by. So easy to miss things in the midst of all the intense greenery.
There was plenty of Prairie Trillium. The deep red flowers make a nice contrast with the more numerous white trillium.
I love the deeply veined leaves in this show, not to mention the purple companion poking up like a periscope.
Geranium was out in abundance. The symmetry of the leaves and flower of this particular plant is what caught my eye.
One of the things I love about the early spring growth is that you get these distinct patterns of vibrant greens in a multitude of different shapes contrasted against the dark background of the soil. Later in summer all of the greenery is so high that you just cannot get this kind of top down view which really highlights the shapes of the leaves.
Similar to the previous show, taken from above looking almost straight down. But time with some blue/purple thrown in for a bit of extra visual interest.
I carry a compact point and shoot camera on a tabletop size tripod with me just to get these low angle shots. Here the Mayapple look almost like a jungle canopy.
A trio of Trillium.
Like spokes in a wheel, the radial pattern caught my attention.
A nice little arrangement of greenery nestled up against the trunk of a long ago fallen tree. In about a month it will be difficult to see the log as it will be covered by the undergrowth. But for now all of the elements are nicely proportioned for photographing.
Another trio of Trillium. These three seem to be keeping watch in all directions.
For me the amount of detail in these developing leaves is incredible to look at.
This fella is about ready to erupt into an intense yellow burst of color.
White trillium was the predominant show piece on this day. They were everywhere, in smaller clumps like this, and covering huge swaths of ground in other places.
I love the little white chevrons on the leaves of Waterleaf.
One beautiful Geranium, floating peacefully above all the rest.
Down low perspective gives a sense of scale.
An isolated pair of White Trillium.