Chicago Nature Now! Alert
August 23, 2019
“Weekly Wildflower Reports Featuring
Chicago’s Best Weekend Getaways & Nature Trips”
Plan the Best Outdoor Getaways Around Chicago!
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The summer blooms have been so frequent and dramatic that I’m worried that you’re taking the beauty for granted and not actually getting out there. Let us know what you’ve been up to by using the comment section (below) or by posting your messages and pictures on our Friends of ChicagoNatureNOW! Facebook group.
WILDFLOWER HIGHLIGHTS TO HELP YOU PLAN YOUR OUTDOOR WEEKEND GETAWAY IN CHICAGO NATURE:
For starters, Wolf Road Prairie is holding their FREE Annual Prairie Fest on Saturday, August 24 from 10 to 4. It’s a family event with a live raptor program, prairie tours, and more.
The summer wildflower season is still going strong. This includes the fascinating flowers of obedient plant, our Plant of the Week. Its pink flowers pivot and then obediently stay as you push them around with your fingers. The glimmering array of flowering spurge are blooming strong at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, Wolf Road Prairie, Belmont Prairie, Spears Woods, Pembroke Savanna, and others on our list. The fluffy deep-purple blooms of the ironweeds are now blooming in most prairies and woodlands.
Big bluestem has been blooming for weeks, but now the miniature yellow flowers dangle upon the tall plumes of Indian grass. Gaze into the prairie landscape and you’ll notice how the grasses can create a purple hue. You can find these iconic prairie grasses at most, if not every, prairie on our list. And finally, the dramatic aquatic American lotus is still flowering. The pale yellow blossoms resemble those of a water lily, but they’re much larger—up to eight inches wide atop stems that can reach six feet high. And that isn’t all. The circular leaf is gorgeous and enormous, up to two and a half feet in diameter! See the Picture Section below for images of American lotus (and where to find it) along with the many flowers featured in this report.
PRESERVES TO VISIT THIS WEEKEND FOR A WILDFLOWER WALK 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 like on the coming weekend: “+” is Probably Better; “-” is Probably Less Dramatic; “=” is Probably the Same. Notice the word “probably.”
THIS WEEK’S BEST (“GO!”):
Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion (last scouted 8/17+): The preserve is in bloom everywhere, and certainly worth making a trip to Zion. The black oak savanna steals the show with gorgeous, omnipresent displays of flowering spurge and western sunflower, along with dense patches of large flowered false foxglove. I’ve never seen so many false foxglove before. Some woodland sunflower can also be found under the trees. Rough blazing star is beginning to blossom with this preserve’s grandest display of the year. And that’s saying a lot! In the sand prairie, flowering spurge is the biggest bloomer. Along the way, you’ll find nodding wild onion, cylindrical blazing star, and purple prairie clover. And like the savanna, the prairie is about to explode with rough blazing star.
Spears Woods in Willow Spring (8/21=): This preserve is beautiful right now, especially the prairie—a vast scene of white and gold with flashes of purple. Again this week, flowering spurge is sparkling white throughout much of the landscape along with fading white flower heads of rattlesnake master and wild quinine. Contributing the gold to the prairie are woodland sunflower, early goldenrod (and others), rosinweed, and a little bit of long-bracted tickseed sunflower in the northern prairie. Now that the blazing star has faded, smooth ironweed now provides the purple. The grasses of big bluestem and Indian grass are blooming, too! In the woodland, you’ll find fading blooms of the towering pinkish sweet Joe-Pye weed and more woodland sunflower. And in the wetland, specifically Hogwash Slough, you’ll find a small colony of American lotus. But you can only see it from from the trail where the vantage point is high. The tall, dense plants along the shore prevent viewing from the water’s edge.
Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook (8/21+): If you thought that two dozen species in bloom at Middlefork Savanna was remarkable, there’s now at least twenty-six bloomers at Somme Prairie Grove! The woodland is looking great with golden woodland sunflower alongside towering and flowering sweet Joe-Pye weed and the start of tall ironweed and brown-eyed Susan. Out from the trees and into the sun, you’ll find a mix of the following flowers with none taking a clear leading role: mountain mint, rattlesnake master, wild quinine, flowering spurge, large flowered false foxglove, rosinweed, early goldenrod, prairie blazing star, showy tick trefoil, spotted Joe-Pye weed, swamp milkweed, ironweed, nodding wild onion, compass plant, blue vervain, obedient plant, cardinal flower, and the tiny blooms of big bluestem. IMPORTANT NOTE: There is construction on Dundee Road east of Waukegan Road, but you can still drive around the “Detour” barricade because it’s open to local traffic. The preserve entrance is located on the left side about 500 feet beyond the barricade. Due to the construction, Google Maps instructs you to park on Ferndale. Ignore it! Park in the main lot, or use the alternate parking location found on our web page for this preserve.
Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin (8/20+): There’s a lot to see, this week! As you enter the preserve, you’ll find yourself protected within the embrace of majestic oaks in the savanna. Quickly, you’ll see the fluffy, tall sweet Joe-Pye weed, pale Indian plantain, bottlebrush grass, and nodding wild onion. The stand of sweet Joe-Pye weed upon the kame is stunning! As you pass the savanna, I recommend making a right turn into the open prairie and moving counter-clockwise around the preserve back to this spot. Along the counter-clockwise route, you’ll experience the wonderful bristled heads of Canada wild rye, which will soak you with dew in the mornings. You’ll also find a glorious “forest” of tall compass plant to the west. Take the trail at the “Y” to see them up close. Returning to the main trail, you’ll head east through a dense stand of big bluestem grass, which was giving off fragrant plumes of pollen as we passed through it. Lavender wild bergamot is still hanging on, and the golden rays of rosinweed and black-eyed Susan are prominent, along with the fading yellow blooms of yellow coneflower and early goldenrod. The next nice display along your way happens at the “switchback” kame, where you’ll see beautiful displays of cylindrical blazing star, nodding wild onion, and the new kid on the block, rough blazing star. At the top of the kame, head west towards the savanna and turn left at the intersection towards a small creek with stepping stones. Near the intersection, look for the sublime blooms of bottle gentian. Continue along, staying left when you reach the kame. You’ll come around the kame to your right, and you’ll find yourself where you began your journey into the sun. NOTE: Consider checking out nearby Shoe Factory Road Prairie.
Wolf Road Prairie in Westchester (8/21=): The prairie is blooming with a splendid mix of flowers. Taking a wide view of the prairie, the color can be described much like Spears Woods: white and gold with occasional flashes of pink and purple. The miniature white blossoms of flowering spurge catch the eye, while fading ivory blooms of rattlesnake master and wild quinine still call for your attention. Rosinweed and goldenrod (grass-leaved, early, and stiff) contribute to the golds. Obedient plant provides a punch of pink. And smooth ironweed helps make up for the vanishing purples of the once-flamboyant prairie blazing star. While you’re walking around, also look for nodding wild onion and one of my favorites, round-headed bush clover. It’s not the tiny flowers that attract me. I love their bushy green heads. Last year, prairie dock pushed up hundreds of skyward stalks with golden flowers. This year, there are only a few. Still, the foliage of this plant is wonderful to see, along that of its cousin, compass plant, and prairie dropseed‘s bob hairdo. Big bluestem and Indian grass are also blooming. The oak savanna has lost much of its pizzazz, this week, because much of the woodland sunflower has disappeared. But there’s still plenty of sweet Joe-Pye weed alongside bottlebrush grass, and the occasional tall ironweed. NOTE: Theodore Stone Preserve and Spears Woods are located close by.
Middlefork Savanna in Lake Forest (8/19=): Many dramatic plants are blooming in large numbers. Our scout, Karen, counted about two dozen native plants in bloom! The most conspicuous and widespread are cup plant, rattlesnake master, rosinweed, wild bergamot, and yellow coneflower. The latter two are past their prime, but still provide good color. Dramatic purples of prairie blazing star are fading, but those of ironweed add visual excitement. Skyward sawtooth sunflower and pale Indian plantain make an impression. And there’s much more to see: mountain mint, blue vervain, obedient plant, nodding wild onion, great blue lobelia, and the glorious red cardinal flower. In the wetter areas, you’ll find the gorgeous pink blooms of swamp milkweed, the bright pink blooms of spotted Joe-Pye weed, the spectacular purple spikes of pickerel weed, and the large pink blossoms of swamp rose mallow.
Belmont Prairie in Downers Grove (8/20+): This intimate remnant prairie is rich in blooms, this week. The whites of flowering spurge are almost everywhere, making the prairie sparkle. Adding to the ivory palette are fading flowers of wild quinine, rattlesnake master, and newly blooming cream gentian. The whitish-pink blooms of nodding wild onion seem omnipresent. And the yellows are coming from the vanishing blooms of rosinweed, yellow coneflower, and early goldenrod, along with a handful of newly blooming prairie dock. However, prairie dock and compass plant are not blooming very much, this year. But you can still appreciate their wondrous foliage that glows bright green in the low sun. Towering big bluestem grass runs throughout the preserve, especially along one trail where it feels like you’re walking through a tunnel.
Shoe Factory Road Prairie in Hoffman Estates (8/21+): This small rare hill prairie is surrounded by a fence. The site offers short trails that will quickly take you to the best flower shows. South of the fence is the prairie associated with Carl Hansen Woods, formerly known as Poplar Creek Prairie. This week, the stars of the hill prairie are cylindrical blazing star, obedient plant, flowering spurge, various goldenrods (early, stiff, etc.), woodland sunflower, and some rosinweed. But, in just a few days, the display of rough blazing star will steal the show. The prairie outside the fence features rattlesnake master, obedient plant, sparkling goldenrods, nodding wild onion, and newly emerging rough blazing star. NOTE: Consider visiting Bluff Spring Fen while you’re here. It’s not far away.
GO, IF YOU’RE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD:
Theodore Stone Preserve in Hodgkins (last scouted 8/5): We did not scout here this week. According to my database, the purple blooms of rough blazing star should be starting to bloom in the eastern dolomite prairie. If you’re in the area, take a walk to experience the tall grasses that give the tall grass prairie its name. Here’s what we reported on August 5: “The star of the week is yellow coneflower, though the blooms are getting a little old. The plant grows in vast golden expanses throughout the black-soil prairie located on the west half of the preserve. Rattlesnake master offers a single fantastic spread, but the plant can also be found scattered about. Along your stroll, you’ll also see an abundances of partridge pea, wild quinine, ironweed, and wild bergamot. Other flowers of note are prairie blazing star, mountain mint, early goldenrod, pale Indian plantain, rosinweed, and the blooming grass of big bluestem.”
NOTE: The preserve is located quite close to Spears Woods and Wolf Road Prairie, which are both on our “Go” list.
Pembroke Savanna in Hopkins Park (last scouted 8/5): We did not scout here this week. However, my database suggests that its most famous display featuring rough blazing star is about to erupt alongside large flowered false foxglove, western sunflower, and round-headed bush clover. On August 5, we reported: “The yellow blossoms of partridge pea is at peak flower along with the pink spotted bee balm. And the sparkling flowering spurge is reaching its peak, as well. The tiny ivory flowers of whorled milkweed are still hanging on, which you can smell if you stop for a moment and concentrate on the fragrances around you. It might help to first calibrate your nose by bending down to smell it. And while you’re down there, take in the minty aroma of spotted bee balm (also known as, spotted or dotted horsemint).”
PRESERVES FOR YOU TO SCOUT:
This is a category for those who’d like do a little exploring for us. The preserves listed below were not scouted, this week, but may be worth the trip. Please send us your findings and images by email or, better still, join our Friends of ChicagoNatureNOW! Facebook page. While visiting a preserve, take mostly scenic pictures, tell us which flowers are blooming, and then give us your bottom-line opinion of your experience. Tell us if it’s a “GO,” a “Go, if you’re in the neighborhood,” or a “NO.” If you’d like to scout more regularly, then learn about becoming an official Nature Scout.
Chiwaukee Prairie in Pleasant Prairie, Wisconsin: This prairie-by-the-lake offers cooler temperatures during the hot summer months. Let us know what you find!
Powderhorn Marsh & Prairie in Chicago: This high-quality preserve is located inside the city of Chicago. If you live in the Calumet region, here’s your chance to help bring nature to your neighbors.
COMING SOON: ROUGH BLAZING STAR
PLANT OF THE WEEK: OBEDIENT PLANT
Obedient plant has pink flowers that run up the stem of the plant. The name comes from the plant’s pivoting snapdragon flower that obediently stays put when you swivel it on its mysterious botanical hinge. Here, atop the hill at Shoe Factory Road Prairie, obedient plant and Indian grass take in the view.*
PHOTO SECTION
Flowering Spurge
In August, the white blooms of flowering spurge erupts across the sand savanna at Pembroke Savanna Nature Preserve and many other of our showcase preserves, including Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, Somme Prairie Grove, Spears Woods, Belmont Prairie, Wolf Road Prairie, and Bluff Spring Fen. The plant is very common, growing in every Illinois county. It thrives in almost any kind of soil and in most living conditions, from disturbed to high-quality areas. It particularly likes poor soil where there is less competition from other plants. I think of this plant as the prairie equivalent to baby’s breath in a floral bouquet.*
Bottle Gentian
Blue bottle gentians survive under the shadow of the dense late-summer prairie, where plants, like this sawtooth sunflower, can tower twelve feet into the air.*
Bottle gentian (or closed gentian) is fully dependent on bumblebees for its survival. The petals of this unusual flower are effectively closed to other insects, but the strong bumblebee is able to muscle its way in through the tip. Late in the season, when fewer plants are blooming, bottle gentian relies on the slim pickings for pollination, hoping bumblebees won’t mind the extra effort.*
Cylindrical Blazing Star
In August, cylindrical blazing star blooms in the sand savanna at Indiana Dunes National Park. You can also find it at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve and Bluff Spring Fen. The roots of this plant are the deepest of any prairie plant, which is saying a lot. See illustration below of root depth.*
Rattlesnake Master
Rattlesnake master is a wonderful Chicago prairie flower that looks resembles Tinker Toys or molecular structures, or something you might find in Arizona or Texas. The plant gets its name because some Native Americans brewed a tea from the root as an antidote for rattlesnake venom. To prevent bites, some chewed on the root, then spat on their hands before handling a rattlesnake. Of course, I’m interested to know if this really works. What’s more, the research may not even require a flight to the desert. That’s because, believe it or not, the rare and endangered eastern massasauga rattlesnake lives right here in the Chicago area. So, if you perform the experiment, please get back to me with the results, either you or next of kin. To experience rattlesnake master, visit Belmont Prairie, Somme Prairie Grove, Shoe Factory Road Prairie, Wolf Road Prairie, Fermilab Prairie, Gensburg-Markham Prairie, Kickapoo Woods and Prairie, Spears Woods, Theodore Stone Preserve, and other local prairies over the next few weeks.*
Big Bluestem Grass
The towering height of big bluestem grass gives true meaning to the term “tallgrass prairie.”*
Miniature flowers delicately hang from the tassel of big bluestem grass.*
Canada Wild Rye
This plume of Canada wild rye is drenched in dew at Bluff Spring Fen, which is very common for the foggy, dewy mornings of August.
Compass Plant & Prairie Dock
The golden flowers of compass plant is now blooming atop a stalk that reaches for the sky.*
Landscape of compass plants at Springbrook Prairie in Naperville, Illinois.*
You can find prairie dock at Middlefork Savanna and most prairies across the region. It is an imaginative creation dreamt up by Mother Nature. Stretching at least twelve feet beneath the prairie is the taproot—the life, the energy source, and the heart of this plant. The root is also the artery, transporting cold water from deep below to nourish and cool the affection of heart-shaped leaves, which are prone to shriveling under the summer sun.Where the root meets the air, a blood-red stalk takes over the job. Swerving towards the sky, the thick stem carries life to multiple golden flowers that may float as high as ten feet above the prairie. Here, the first flower has bloomed, while many ball-like buds are about to follow suit.
A “forest” of compass plants reach for the sky at Wolf Road Prairie in Westchester, Illinois.*
These are the large leaves of the prairie’s most iconic plants. The heart-shaped leaf is that of prairie dock, and the long-lobed leaf is from a cousin called compass plant.*
American Lotus at Tomahawk Slough
American Lotus at Tomahawk Slough in Willow Springs, Illinois.
Tomahawk Slough in Willow Springs, Illinois is teeming with the grand American lotus. You an reach the wetland by first parking at the far end of Pulaski Woods parking lot and then walking a short distance along the trails.
Swamp Rose Mallow
The large blooms of swamp rose mallow is a plant that can be found in August around some of Chicago’s wetlands.*
Spears Woods
In the open woodland at Spears Woods in Willow Springs, Illinois, summer brings tall blooms of sweet Joe-Pye weed. As of this post, they are just starting bloom.*
Illinois Beach Nature Preserve
In late summer, early flowering spurge and purple rough blazing star blanket the black oak savanna at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion, Illinois.*
At the end of this late-summer day, large-flowered false foxglove blooms across the black oak savanna at Illinois Beach State Park. You can also experience this plant at Bluff Spring Fen, Indiana Dunes National Park, and Pembroke Savanna.*
The Dead River, at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion, is the only remaining river in Illinois that flows into Lake Michigan. The name comes either from deep pools of quicksand hidden along the banks that devour unsuspecting hikers or from water that remains still and barely flows. On this sapphire morning, the latter was true.*
Somme Prairie Grove
At Somme Prairie Grove, woodland sunflowers surround this majestic bur oak in the savanna.*
In 1985, this area was cast in total darkness, a dirt floor under an endless gray barrier of scraggly buckthorn. Now, after lots of love from volunteers, it is the edge of a woodland, well lit and teeming with tall flowers that reach for the sun. Here, we can see an August celebration of woodland sunflower, brown-eyed Susan, sweet Joe-Pye weed, and ironweed.*
Obedient plant can be found at many local preserves, like here at Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook, Shoe Factory Road Prairie, Wolf Road Prairie, and more. Use your finger to pivot the flower on the stem, and it will obediently remain in place. Hence the name. Grow it in your garden, though, and it has a habit of spreading and not staying put.*
Bluff Spring Fen
Soft sunlight, diffused by morning mist, filters across the preserve. Gathered at the base of the kame, fire-resistant bur oaks hover above a colorful caboodle of spotted Joe-Pye weed and goldenrod.*
Soon after entering Bluff Spring Fen, you’ll find yourself in an intimate oak savanna, where majestic bur oaks with outstretched limbs protect you in their nurturing embrace.*
Bottlebrush grass and wild bergamot glow in the morning light in the oak savanna at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois.*
Cylindrical blazing star covers the northeast kame at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois.*
Wolf Road Prairie
Wolf Road Prairie puts on a lesson in biodiversity. Pictured are prairie blazing star, wild quinine, rattlesnake master, flowering spurge, Culver’s root, rosinweed, and yellow coneflower.*
Pembroke Savanna
In a shining spot under the open canopy of the black oaks, western sunflowers smile in the late-summer sun at Pembroke Savanna.*
Prairie Root System
The root system of some common prairie plants. Note that cylindrical blazing star has the deepest root that reaches over fifteen feet! Click the image for a bigger view.
If you find this website of Chicago nature information useful, please consider donating or purchasing my nationally-acclaimed book that poetically celebrates all of the preserves featured on this website.
—Mike
