Chicago Nature NOW! Alert
June 24, 2021
“Weekly Wildflower Reports Featuring
Chicago’s Best Outdoor Getaways & Nature Trips”
Plan the Best Summer Walks & Outdoor Getaways Around Chicago!
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PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE VISITING OUR SHOWCASE PRESERVES:
ChicagoNatureNOW! preserves are Sacred Cathedrals of Nature, NOT playgrounds or amusement parks. Please treat these sanctuaries with reverence, and behave as you would in any house of worship:
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- Stay on the trails.
- Walk, don’t run.
- If your kids need to run around, there are THOUSANDS of more appropriate places to play.
- Speak quietly as to not interfere with the spiritual experiences of others.
- Don’t pick flowers or remove anything from a preserve.
- Share cherished moments through photography, drawing, painting, and writing.
- Many of these preserves do NOT allow pets, even if they’re leashed.
- If a rule isn’t listed here, then ask yourself, “Would I do this in church?”
SITE ACCESS:
Most sites and trails that are owned by Chicago-area counties and Indiana Dunes National Park are open, except for visitor centers, buildings, and bathrooms. Fermilab Prairie woodland (Fermilab Natural Areas) in Batavia is closed. Period.
WILDFLOWER HIGHLIGHTS TO HELP YOU PLAN YOUR OUTDOOR ADVENTURES INTO CHICAGO’S WOODLANDS:
Now that the rain is quenching the thirst of our prairies, the wildflowers are coming back. Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook is featuring a variety of wildflowers, including our Plant of the Week, the magnificently orange butterfly weed. The best show can be found at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion.
Spears Woods and Wolf Road Prairie are also aflower with many species, including the omnipresent cauliflower heads of wild quinine, which can be found at any of our mesic prairies.
The beautiful pale purple coneflower is still looking quite good. It blooms in large numbers at Belmont Prairie, Bluff Spring Fen, and the southern slope outside the fence of Shoe Factory Road Prairie.
Purple leadplant is about to prominently erupt at Pembroke Savanna, Somme Prairie Grove, Shoe Factory Road Prairie, and Bluff Spring Fen, At the latter two preserves, a heart-stopping mix of leadplant and golden prairie coreopsis often bloom side-by-side.
For just a while longer, you can still experience the ephemeral blue flowers of Ohio spiderwort that open to meet their one-and-only day, then dissolve into a gem of purple liquid. They are now melting hearts around Chicago as they continue their monthlong show. You can find them at many preserves around the area. Click here to read my poem about it.
Here is my most profound recommendation for enjoying your time in nature. If the preserve allows, arrive before first light. A morning rendezvous with nature is a magical experience that vastly transcends what’s possible at other times of day. In the early bright, the world expands beyond the usual three dimensions, as the transformation from darkness into light excites more than just the visual sense. As night gives birth to dawn, and the landscape gently turns from azure to gold, the soft and changing light is a spectacle for the eyes. A moist fog or a splash of crisp dew against your skin affirms your existence. The still atmosphere concentrates the fragrances floating in the air and provides a tranquil stage for birds to project their crystal melodies. In the morning, you’ll find all this, along with the promise of a new day.
If a flower that turns to liquid isn’t weird enough, you can now find porcupine grass with a seed that drills itself into the soil. Watch my real-time video of the drilling seed below. Look for this grass and its seeds at Belmont Prairie, Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, Bluff Spring Fen, Pembroke Savanna, Miller Woods, and Powderhorn Marsh & Prairie.
The pearly white trumpets of foxglove beardtongue are still flowering. The flower doesn’t smell like anything. But in the fall, their seeds smell exactly, and I mean “exactly,” like vomit! In stark contrast, you can now experience a most wonderful fragrance by dropping to your knees and lowering your nose into the pink blossom of pasture rose. Over several weeks in late spring, it blooms barely inches from the ground. During that time, whenever we’re together, I partake in a sacred ritual. I drop to my knees and bow in reverence, nose to petal. Only once did I experience a downside. As I lowered my nose to the flower, I immediately felt a tingling on my upper lip that had come into contact with poison ivy. It was a small price to pay for the many years of delight that this flower has brought me.
WHERE TO GO THIS WEEKEND FOR A SPRING WILDFLOWER GETAWAY AROUND CHICAGO:
We’ve ranked the preserves on this week’s list based on the quality of the wildflower experience, starting out with the best or “Go!” The “Go, if You’re in the Neighborhood” section is for sites that are worth visiting if you can’t get out to our top-rated preserves. And our “Preserves for You to Scout” section for those preserves that we couldn’t get to this week, but that you can help us explore! The date within the parentheses tells you when we last scouted the preserve. After the date, you may see one of these three mathematical symbols: +, –, = (plus, minus, equal). They represent our prediction about how the flowers will look on the coming weekend: “+” is Probably Better; “-” is Probably Less Dramatic; “=” is Probably the Same. Notice the word “probably.”
THIS WEEK’S BEST (“GO!”):
The order of the preserves below is based on the quality of the wildflower experience, starting out with the best.
Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook (6/22+): The savanna is aflower with blooms that represent a vibrant array of color: purple, blue, pink, orange, yellow, and white. Currently, the bright orange blooms of butterfly weed steal the show. And the gorgeous yellow blossoms of prairie sundrop follow close behind. Leadplant is just beginning to show purple and will soon be staging dramatic shows across areas of open sky. Many more flowers can be found, including Ohio spiderwort, marsh phlox, pasture rose, prairie lily, black-eyed Susan, common St. John’s wort, compass plant, daisy fleabane, foxglove beardtongue, white wild indigo, New Jersey tea, mountain mint, the tall tuberous Indian plantain, and numerous wild quinine. Keep your eyes open for the striking blooms of purple milkweed and the beautifully scented pasture rose. And the golden flowers of compass plant are now blossoming. There’s still a lot of green out there, so take this time to appreciate the beautiful textures that come from the foliage of sedges, grasses, and bloomers-to-be, including the floppy hairdos of prairie dropseed, heart-shaped leaves of prairie dock, desert-looking rattlesnake master, and fern-looking leadplant. Come early or late in the day to experience the green glow from compass plant and prairie dock.
Spears Woods in Willow Springs (6/22+): The preserve’s prairies are presenting one of best shows of the week. And if you visit in the morning, you can experience the ephemeral blue blooms of Ohio spiderwort. Joining the blues are the alabasters of foxglove beardtongue, white wild indigo, daisy fleabane, and mountain mint amidst dramatic displays of wild quinine. You’ll discover small explosions of orange butterfly weed, yellow eruptions of prairie sundrop, and newly blooming compass plant. Golden black-eyed Susan are sprinkled about. And you should be able to find a few stray blooms of purple milkweed along the trail. Climbing wild rose is at peak bloom. It looks like a large bush. And you’ll find the orange Silly String of parasitic field dodder draped over and around plants that it’s feeding on. Thanks to spring’s prescribed fire, the prairie is green and clean, uncluttered by last year’s tan skeletons. Spears Woods is one of the most beautiful sites in the region, where your walk will take you through woodlands, prairies, and wetlands.
Shoe Factory Road Prairie in Hoffman Estates (6/21+): The flower display is growing richer by the day. As you approach the official Illinois Nature Preserve at the top of the hill, you’ll experience hundreds of pale purple coneflower along with newly blooming leadplant and prairie coreopsis, a sprinkling of black-eyed Susan, and numerous wild quinine. Once inside the fence, you’ll find an increasingly abundant display of prairie coreopsis alongside more advanced leadplant blooms. You’ll also experience marsh phlox short green milkweed, porcupine grass, and a handful of wild quinine. NOTE: Consider visiting Bluff Spring Fen while you’re here. It’s roughly in the neighborhood.
Belmont Prairie in Downers Grove (6/22+): This is best time of year to visit this remnant prairie when several colorful flowers bloom at once, led by the dramatic performance of pale purple coneflower. Complementing the pinks of coneflower are the orange of the spectacular butterfly weed, the golden hues of black-eyed Susan, ivory heads of wild quinine, and a blue veil of scurfy pea. You also find occasional blooms of purple milkweed, some pasture rose low to the ground, and the ephemeral blue blossoms of Ohio spiderwort that bloom the morning hours. Their blue flowers open around sunrise, but only last a few hours until they shrivel away into a purple liquid. Very cool! Click here to read my poem about spiderwort’s miraculous melting flowers. And the grasses are wonderful, as well, including the drooping heads of prairie brome and the miraculous self-drilling seed of porcupine grass. Click here to watch my video about it.
Wolf Road Prairie in Westchester (6/22+): The most dramatic overall display happens in the morning when Ohio spiderwort blossoms open up amidst a dramatic glowing backdrop of glowing aortic prairie dock foliage and alabaster wild quinine and daisy fleabane. Along the way, you’ll also experience the occasional white wild indigo, yellow-petaled black-eyed Susan, pink marsh phlox and pasture rose, and the gorgeous orange prairie lily. The textures and colors of the foliage adds to excitement, including the blue-greens of rattlesnake master and hundreds of prairie dock hearts.
GO, IF YOU’RE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD:
Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin (6/21+): The glorious pale purple coneflower is still blooming atop the big kame in the savanna and the “switchback” kame to the northeast. To reach the big kame, please use the out-and-back trail to the top. While you’re up there, you’ll have a great view of the oak savanna and the bowl of the fen to the east. Purple leadplant and yellow prairie coreopsis are just starting to flower, and often put on nice shows. But given the drought, we’ll have to wait and see. You’ll also find flashes of orange from butterfly weed, gold from black-eyed Susan, pink from pasture rose, blue from blue vervain and Ohio spiderwort, and white from foxglove beardtongue, wild quinine, and white wild indigo.
PLANT OF THE WEEK: BUTTERFLY WEED
Coral hairstreak butterfly on butterfly weed at Gensburg-Markham Prairie in Markham, Illinois.*
Here at Belmont Prairie in Downers Grove, the bright orange flowers of butterfly weed makes a colorful statement. You can find this plant at several high-quality preserves, including Bluff Spring Fen, Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, and Somme Prairie Grove.*
Butterfly weed blooms across the oak savanna at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve. You can also find it at many other preserves including, Somme Prairie Grove, Belmont Prairie, and Bluff Spring Fen.*
PHOTO SECTION
Porcupine Grass and its Miraculous Self-Drilling Seeds
The seeds of porcupine grass are located at the tip of long sharp needles that fall off the plant and then slowly drill themselves into the soil. You can find porcupine grass at Belmont Prairie, Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, Bluff Spring Fen, Pembroke Savanna, Miller Woods, and Powderhorn Marsh & Prairie.*
The awn of this porcupine grass seed is tightly twisted, as you can see by the winding yellow and black stripes along its length. The pointy seed head of porcupine grass is bearded, with hairs pointing upward to keep it lodged in the soil.
As a fun experiment, drop the entire fruit into a tall glass of water and remove it after it has mostly straightened out. Dab it dry with a towel, and then stick the seed head into a small pot of dirt or, if in a pinch, a dry sponge. Now watch. Soon, you’ll begin to see the awn wind like a very slow second hand of a backwards-running clock.
Watch my video of porcupine grass drilling itself into the soil right before your eyes!
CLICK HERE TO LEARN MORE ABOUT PORCUPINE GRASS.
Wild Quinine Can Be Found in Many Prairies
This is a common scene at Elgin’s Bluff Spring Fen. Here in the golden light of morning, wild quinine, prairie coreopsis, and leadplant overlook the foggy fen.*
Prairie Coreopsis
Atop this gravelly hill prairie at Shoe Factory Road Prairie, deep-rooted leadplant combine with the happy yellow faces of prairie coreopsis as they shine through the dissipating fog.*
Leadplant is Beginning to Bloom
Here at Somme Prairie Grove, the purple plant in this panorama is leadplant, which can search for water fifteen feet below the arid surface. Other drought-tolerant species seen here include prairie dropseed and wild quinine, in the front; and farther out, prairie dock, compass plant, and rattlesnake master.*
Pale Purple Coneflower
Pale purple coneflower is favorite of mine. I just love how the petals droop downward. The plant has deep taproot, allowing it to survive drought and to thrive in gravel and dolomite limestone prairies. In the warm light of rising or setting sun, the flowers turn a stunning orange pink. Here at Belmont Prairie, I picked out this scene from a thousand coneflowers: a miniature, slow-motion rodeo that was taking place upon one prickly flower head. I watched as a tiny ant rode the back of a slinking inchworm.*
The predawn clouds take on the colors of the pale purple coneflower at this dolomite limestone prairie at Theodore Stone Preserve in Hodgkins, Illinois. You can usually find this majestic plant growing most prominently at Bluff Spring Fen and Belmont Prairie.*
Each day, Mother Nature chooses from an array of natural elements and then fashions them into new works of art. Most Junes at Belmont Prairie, dazzling mosaics like this go on exhibit. Assembled from over one hundred pale purple coneflowers, the final work, not the individual pieces, draws our attention.*
Sometimes the petals of pale purple coneflowers can be pale white. Here, a combination of pink and white coneflowers populate the kame at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois.*
Foxglove Beardtongue
In June, foxglove beardtongue blooms at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin and many other preserves. The flowers have no smell that I can detect. But come autumn, the seeds smell EXACTLY like vomit! Be still my heart.*
The spring prairie at Spears Woods in Willow Springs puts on a show of foxglove beardtongue.
At Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois, pearl blossoms of foxglove beardtongue catch the morning rays and a new day awakens—one as splendid and picturesque as any place on Earth.*
Ohio Spiderwort is Still Our Morning Star
In late May or early June, Ohio spiderwort begins a performance that will last a month or longer, starring a cluster of buds that releases only a couple of flowers each day. Each morning, a new bud opens into a delicate blue or purple flower. You can find spiderwort, right now, at Wolf Road Prairie, Belmont Prairie, Bluff Spring Fen, Pembroke Savanna, Powderhorn Prairie, Miller Woods, Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, and more.
As the day wears on, each blossom begins to wither—then miraculously melts into a gem of royal jelly. An enzyme in the flower causes it to slowly decompose, and hot weather speeds up the process. It’s noon, and this flower is already shriveling.
By midafternoon, this spiderwort bloom was melting blue between my fingertips. Do you notice my purple fingers? I was arrested earlier that morning.
This is the scene from Wolf Road Prairie, as blossoms of Ohio spiderwort open to meet the new day.*
At Miller Woods (Indiana Dunes National Park), spiderwort and bracken fern cover the side of the dunes.*
Now that you know a little something about spiderwort, click here to read my poem about this plant from my book, My Journey into the Wilds of Chicago: A Celebration of Chicagoland’s Startling Natural Wonders.
Pasture Rose is a Must-Smell Flower
Pasture rose grows here in the sand prairie at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve. But you can also find it at other preserves, including Bluff Spring Fen and Pembroke Savanna. The fragrance of pasture rose is transcendent—a spiritual experience.*
Purple Milkweed
The striking blooms of purple milkweed can be found in the best prairies and savannas, including Somme Prairie Grove and, here, at Wolf Road Prairie in Westchester, Illinois.*
Compass Plant is Now Blooming
The golden blooms of compass plant are just starting in some of our prairies. They’re an iconic species that can be found in most of our mesic prairies.
The Charismatic Foliage of Compass Plant & Prairie Dock
These are the large leaves of the prairie’s most iconic plants. The heart-shaped leaf is that of prairie dock, while the long-lobed leaf is its cousin compass plant.
Green glow describes leaves that glow a bright green from sunlight shining through them. Here, we see a special kind of green glow that results in a shadow play, as sunlight shines through a translucent leaf of prairie dock, as golden Alexander casts its distinctive silhouette.*
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If you find this website of Chicago nature information useful, please consider donating or purchasing my nationally-acclaimed book that celebrates all of the preserves featured on this website.
—Mike
