Chicago Nature Now! Alert
August 4, 2016
“Chicago nature news & info to help you discover the region’s finest natural wonders.”
Here’s what’s happening in Chicago nature, right now!
Spears Woods is currently the best preserve to visit. Purple and gold, prairie blazing star, ironweed, big bluestem, early goldenrod, and pale-leaved sunflower span the prairie landscape. Big bluestem grass, with its purple tassel, is starting to flower. (See picture below.) In the woods, you’ll find great stands of sweet Joe-Pye Weed and woodland sunflowers, along with many species of mushrooms that have emerged as a result of our recent rains. Click here for the location of the trailhead that goes west into the prairies. To see the sweet Joe-Pye Weed in the woodland and a view of Hogwash Slough to the southwest, visit this spot along the trail.
Somme Prairie Grove‘s woodland is in bloom, with sweet Joe-Pye Weed, woodland sunflower, brown-eyed Susan, and Indian plantain.
Fermilab Prairie is a great place to visit, but not for the colors. Come for the towering sea of towering big blue stem grass and skyward bound flowers of prairie dock, compass plant, and tall coreopsis. I measured one prairie dock stem at ten-and-a-half feet tall!
Bluff Spring Fen looks good in the savanna, with sweet Joy-Pye weed and tall, golden wingstem. The prairie is mostly in transition with very little color, except for the wonderful display of cylindrical blazing star on the “switchback” kame in the north-central portion of the preserve. Don’t know what a kame is? Learn about it in the glossary.
Saganashkee Slough is always great for summer sunsets.
PHOTO SECTION
Here are sample photos of blazing star (from previous years):
At Spears Woods in Willow Springs, Illinois, the prairie offers great color*.
Spears Woods’ finest show is happening right now in its prairies, as blazing stars shoot toward the sky.*
This is an example of what you will find at Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook, Illinois:
At Somme Prairie Grove, woodland sunflowers surround this majestic bur oak in the savanna. You can also find a vast display of this flower at Wolf Road Prairie.*
Beautiful things can be found in the miniature, like the flowering tassels of big bluestem grass:
Look for the tiny flowers on the tassel of big bluestem grass.*
Check out the summer sunsets at Saganaskee Slough:
On this sweltering, sultry afternoon, a golden sun sets over Saganashkee Slough in Palos Hills, Illinois.*
* Photo is representational and was not recorded this year. Bloom times vary from year to year.
—Mike
