(WBBM NEWSRADIO) — There's only a short window of time left to get out and enjoy the sights of wild Virginia bluebells, as they're in full bloom right now.
In the Will County Forest Preserves, one of the best places to view bluebells is in O'Hara Woods in the Romeoville area. Forest Preserves program coordinator Suzy Lyttle said they're "phenomenal" there.
"O'Hara Woods, right now. Any other time of the year, it would just look like a normal forest, but right now it looks like 'The Wizard of Oz' — the poppy scene — and you're just running through the fields of bluebells," she said. "They're everywhere."
Lyttle said the bluebell fields are a photographers' delight.
"What's fun is that the big bumblebees love them and so, they're bee-bopping around and you can get some good photos 'cause they're so focused on getting nectar and pollen that they don't care about you."
There will likely only be another week or two to catch the bluebells in full bloom before they're gone for another year, Lyttle said.
In O'Hara Woods, near Romeoville, Forest Preservers program coordinator Suzy Lyttle said the blooming Virginia bluebells reminded her of the poppy scene from "The Wizard of Oz."Suzy Lyttle
"That's what's so exciting about wildflower season," she said. "It does only last for a certain amount of time, so probably a week or two for these bluebells, and then they'll be gone, and then it's like nothing ever happened."
O'Hara Woods is not the only place to see Virginia bluebells in the Will County Forest Preserves. Lyttle said there are a lot of them in Messenger Woods in the Homer Glen area, but that "you just kind of have to know where to look."
Because bluebells tend to grow where Lyttle said the ground is juicy, she said it's a good idea to wear boots while out on the trail.
Listen to our new podcast Courier Pigeon
Listen to WBBM Newsradio now on Audacy!
