William Shakespeare called them "winking marybuds" which opened their "golden eyes" when they bloomed. This spring, thousands of marybuds, what we call marsh marigolds, have opened their golden eyes in wet areas in Lake County. The marsh marigolds represent one of the good things about all that rain we've had. They love water.

These native plants thrive in wetlands including river floodplains. One of the most beautiful views of marsh marigolds in Lake County this spring is at Ryerson Woods in Deerfield, which is situated along the DesPlaines River.

On a beautiful May day, I ventured across a field at Ryerson into the woods to watch birds with some friends. As we walked over a boardwalk, we saw scores and scores of marsh marigolds growing enmasse, creating a huge ray of sunshine on the forest floor. A northern waterthrush sang its loud song on the other side of the boardwalk closer to the river's edge.

Marsh marigolds arise in spring before the trees' leaves unfurl – they need sunshine to stimulate their growth and opening of the flowers. With the late spring this year, there's been plenty of sunshine available to these lovely blooms.

Marsh marigolds grow in large colonies, but if you bend down to see an individual flower, you'll notice heart-shaped leaves low to the ground. Emerging from each is a blossom that looks like five golden-yellow petals, but are actually sepals , according to bo tanists.

Flies and bees pollinate marsh marigolds, but not many critters eat them, likely because the foliage contains toxins.

Native Americans used the marigolds' roots to treat sores and to aid in constipation .

Back then, marsh marigolds were much more plentiful, growing in all sorts of wet areas, but as agriculture took hold and wetlands were drained, the flowers disappeared. Now they are t ypically only found in protected areas, though some gardeners with wet spots can grow them. These marigolds grow in northern and central Illinois, but are rarely found in southern Illinois.

Marsh marigold grows in Europe as well, and is one of the oldest plants in Great Britain, perhaps growing there just after the last Ice Age. One can only imagine the beauty of so many colonies of marsh marigolds spreading across the warming landscape of our ancestors.

If you want to see marsh marigolds in the wild, get out there now. By June, they will lose their luster and fade into the background, eventually dropping their sepals and shrinking to apparent nothingness. In case you miss them, they'll be back next April.