For the first time in two years, delicate and striking cherry blossoms are in bloom at Jackson Park in Chicago, and visitors ...

Heather Decker, managing ecologist at the Chicago Botanic Garden, explains skunk cabbage. Heather Decker, managing ecologist at the Chicago Botanic Garden, explains skunk cabbage.

Jacob Burns, curator of plant collections at the Chicago Botanic Garden, said this year’s cherry tree bloom is consistent with recent patterns, though still earlier than historical norms.

Any individual flower you put out it likely to get visited,” said Nick Dorian, a post-doctoral researcher at the Chicago Botanic Garden who studies ... and lots of herbs as well.