Chicago Nature Now! Alert
August 3 & 10, 2017
“Plan your Chicago outdoor adventure with Chicago nature info and news
to help you discover the region’s finest natural wonders.”
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I will be on vacation for the August 10th report. Therefore, for that week, use this page as a guide, and visit the Friends of ChicagoNatureNOW! Facebook group for up-to-date posts from our wonderful scouts.
Here are some highlights to help you plan your Chicago weekend getaway:
Chicagoland is putting on a breathtaking show of flowers and grasses. Somme Prairie Grove tops the list this week. Then comes Spears Woods and Bluff Spring Fen. If you’re in the neighborhood, it’s worth a visit to Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, Gensburg-Markham Prairie, Belmont Prairie, and Shoe Factory Road Prairie.
WHERE TO GO THIS WEEKEND FOR A CHICAGO OUTDOOR GETAWAY
Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook: About two dozen different flowers are blooming throughout the preserve. As you stroll the narrow trails, there’s never a spot without floral color. Under the trees, look for white starry campion, skybound plumes of sweet Joe-Pye weed , and thousands of yellow woodland sunflowers. In the sunny areas of the savanna, I love the dense stands of molecular rattlesnake master. They’re structural tops look like Tinker Toys. You’ll also find towering and flowering stalks of compass plant that can easily reach eight feet into the air, along with blooms of mountain mint, Culver’s root, wild quinine, early goldenrod, and the feathery, deep-purple flowers of ironweed. Speaking of tall, soon after entering the preserve, a tunnel of big bluestem grass engulfs you along the trail. Look for their newly formed “turkey foot” tassels and the miniature flowers that hang from them. Early in the morning, if you don’t dress for it, these grasses will drench you with dew. In addition to appreciating the color, notice the rich textures, especially the symmetrical sprays of prairie dropseed.
Spears Woods in Willow Springs has displays of flowers in both the woodland and the prairie. (See the Spears Woods page for GPS coordinates.) The elegant prairie blazing star is in bloom, along with early goldenrod, mountain mint, rattlesnake master, wild quinine, compass plant, and ironweed. And don’t forget the grasses. Look for the tiny flowers of big bluestem grass dangling from their towering tassels. Along the prairie edges and under the soft shade of the trees, you’ll find woodland sunflower. And, in the woodland, look for the fluffy flowers of the tall sweet Joe-Pye weed.
Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin: The purple stalks of marsh blazing star is exploding at the fen’s seep Also, in the wet areas, look for swamp milkweed and spotted Joe-Pye weed, In the your hike, you’ll find yellow hues of rosinweed, yellow coneflower, shrubby cinquefoil, lance-leaved loosestrife, and skyrocketing compass plant. Experience that alabaster tones of wild quinine, flowering spurge, and rattlesnake master. In addition to the purples of marsh blazing star, there’s hoary vervain, cylindrical blazing star, sweet Joe-Pye weed in the savanna, and spotted Joe-Pye weed and swamp milkweed in the wet areas. The grasses are beautiful, as well, including big bluestem, little bluestem, and Canada wild rye, which act as a brushes loaded with morning dew. And then there’s the aptly named bottlebrush grass under the trees of the oak savanna.
IF YOU’RE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD, IT’S PROBABLY WORTH A TRIP TO:
Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion always provides a wonderful and wild experience. On a visit, just a couple of weeks back, I helped a small turtle across the road and saw mating dragonflies in flight. And with every step, I scared up a flurry of startled grasshoppers. Delicate, silver sprays of flowering spurge are blooming throughout the preserve.
Belmont Prairie in Downers grove is also worth a visit to see compass plant, rattlesnake master, flowering spurge, wild quinine, and the diminutive blooms of big bluestem grass. The best show comes from the prairie blazing star in the northwest corner of the preserve.
Gensburg-Markham Prairie in Markham is putting on a show of marsh blazing star, rattlesnake master, flowering spurge, wild quinine, yellow coneflower, and more. This display of flowers can be found on the trails that lead to the left as you walk in. The rest of the preserve is mostly green. NOTE: The gate is NOT locked. It just looks that way. The lock and chain are just draped over the top.
Shoe Factory Road Prairie in Hoffman States offers cylindrical blazing star in the sunny parts and woodland sunflower in the shade of the savanna to the east. In the prairie just outside the fence, you’ll find a magical amounts of rattlesnake master. While you’re here, consider visiting Bluff Spring Fen, which is just fifteen minutes away by car.
PHOTO SECTION
Prairie Blazing Star (and Marsh Blazing Star): Only the nerds can tell the difference.
Prairie blazing star and rosinweed in July at Belmont Prairie in Downers Grove, Illinois.*
Rattlesnake Master
Rattlesnake master is a wonderful Chicago prairie flower that looks like something you’d find in Arizona or Texas. 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.*
Compass Plant
This bloom of compass plant reaches for the sky.*
A landscape of Compass Plants at Springbrook Prairie in Naperville, Illinois.*
Big Bluestem Grass
Here at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, big bluestem grass gives true meaning to the term “tallgrass prairie.” Find big bluestem at 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 several weeks.*
Look closely for miniature flowers that delicately hang from the tassel of big bluestem grass.*
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.*
At Somme Prairie Grove on Tuesday, July 26, rattlesnake master and early goldenrod are lit by the first light of day.
Spears Woods
Prairie blazing star and wild quinine light up the prairie at Spears Woods in Willow Springs, Illinois.*
In the open woodland at Spears Woods, discover summer tall, feathery blooms of sweet Joe-Pye weed.*
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 Joe-Pye weed and tall goldenrod.*
Blazing star blooms at the seep of the fen at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois.*
* Photo is representational and was not recorded this year. Bloom times vary from year to year.
SCOUTING NEEDS for my next report on Thursday, August 17 (in rough order of urgency):
The August 10th report will rely on the information posted by the members of Friends of ChicagoNatureNOW! Facebook group. I’ll be on vacation.
- Somme Prairie Grove: Status of the many flowers, including like sweet (or purple) Joe-Pye weed and woodland sunflowers under the trees.
- Bluff Spring Fen: Status of blazing star and other blooms.
- Spears Woods: Status of blazing star, woodland sunflower, etc.
- Shoe Factory Road Prairie: Status of flowers including woodland sunflower.
- Illinois Beach Nature Preserve: Status flowering spurge, etc.
- Theodore Stone Preserve: General status.
- Fermilab Prairie: General status.
- Miller Woods: General status.
- Powderhorn Prairie: General atatus.
- Belmont Prairie: General status.
- Middlefork Savanna: General status.
If you’d like to help your neighbors discover national-park quality natural events around our homes, then become an official scout. Or, you can help by just sending us pictures and a text description from your visit. Another way is to post your pictures to Instagram using these essential hashtags: #ChicagoNatureNow and #NameOfPreserve.
Do you find this website useful? Do you benefit from our many hours of weekly scouting? Then please help keep it going by donating or purchasing my nationally-acclaimed book.
—Mike
