Chicago Nature Now! Alert
June 15, 2017

“Plan your Chicago nature adventure with Chicago nature info and news
to help you discover the region’s finest natural wonders.”

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. It includes over two hundred breathtaking photographs and forty-six chapters of inspirational information that celebrate Chicago’s natural wonders and every preserve featured on this website.

Here’s what’s happening in Chicago nature:

The preserve of the week may be Illinois Beach Nature Preserve and it’s golden display of sand coreopsis. This is also the time for grand displays of pale purple coneflower. The kooky flower of the moment is spiderwort, but you will only find them blooming in the morning. By the afternoon, the flowers will have melted into a purple liquid! Learn more here. The kooky grass of the week is porcupine grass. Its long needle-like seed drills itself into the soil at a speed that you can actually watch. See my blog post and video. And then there’s foxglove beardtongue, that’s just beginning to bloom. In fall, it’s seed smells exactly, and I mean “exactly,” like vomit! See my video below. Now, read on to learn where to find these three miracles of Chicago nature.

HIGHLIGHTS

Illinois Beach Nature Preserve is putting on a spectacular show of golden sand coreopsis and downy phlox.

Belmont Prairie offers performances by spiderwort, porcupine grass, scurfy pea, and the star of the show, pale purple coneflower.

Bluff Spring Fen is beginning a show of foxglove beardtongue and pale purple coneflower.

Miller Woods is looking very nice with great displays of hoary puccoon, spiderwort, and downy phlox. . Please help us scout this preserve.

Spears Woods offers displays of foxglove beardtongue throughout the prairies.

PLAN YOUR CHICAGO NATURE TRIP THIS WEEKEND

Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion: The grand, golden show of sand coreopsis is continues in the open sand prairie, though it has faded a little. Just take the trails that lead towards Lake Michigan. And don’t forget to look for spiderwort. You can always find some around the parking lot. A favorite flower of mine grows here. It’s called pasture rose, and its fragrance is sublime. But to press your nose into the pink petals means getting down on your hands and knees to reach the low-growing blossom. Because this preserve is so rich, you can easily spend most of your day exploring it.

Belmont Prairie in Downers Grove: A beautiful symphony of color and texture this week at this intimate remnant prairie nestled within a quiet neighborhood of Downers Grove. Playing the starring role is pale purple coneflower, and supported by a cast of scurfy pea, porcupine grass and spiderwort. Spiderwort blooms in large numbers during the morning hours. However, as the day warms, the flowers shrivel and turn to liquid.

Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin: Your walk begins in the intimate oak savanna under the warm embrace and protection of majestic oaks. Soon, the trails emerge into the open prairie, where y0u’ll find foxglove beardtongue and pale purple coneflower in bloom. Porcupine grass can also be found here.

Miller Woods (Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore) in Gary, Indiana: Hoary puccoon, spiderwort, downy phlox, and ferns make this a great place to visit this weekend. And, while you’re in Indiana, check out these preserves to fill out the rest of your day: Cowles Bog Trail and Tolleston Dunes.

Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook: This week, if you’re in the neighborhood, this preserve is probably worth the trip. Foxglove beardtongue can be found blooming in great white masses in the far northwest corner of the preserve. On your way there, you’ll see a smattering of other blooming flowers, white wild indigo.

Spears Woods in Willow Springs: Foxglove beardtongue is blooming across the prairies. While you’re there, don’t forget to find your way to Hogwash Slough. Click here to visit the Spears Woods page to find the GPS coordinates for the prairie and the slough.

Experience Spiderwort: Head out to just about any of our featured prairies and savannas to discover spiderwort. However, to see the flowers, you need to arrive by 10 o’clock in the morning. At the start of each day over the time span of about a month, the plant produces new purple flowers that turn to liquid by afternoon! To experience this purple liquid, squeeze the closed buds that resemble slightly opened pistachios. For the rest of the day, people will look at your fingers and think you were recently arrested. Read about spiderwort and learn where you can find it.

Experience Porcupine Grass at these preserves: Belmont Prairie, the sand prairie at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, Shoe Factory Road Prairie, Bluff Spring Fen, and Powderhorn Prairie.

COMING SOON: Prairie Coreopsis, Goat’s Rue, & Leadplant

PHOTO SECTION

Sand Coreopsis at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve

In a celebration of life, blooms of sand coreopsis spread with golden joy along the banks of the Dead River at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion, Illinois.*

Based on two visits last weekend, we predict blooms of sand coreopsis in the sand prairie at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion, Illinois.*

The turning earth is the dimmer switch, gradually recasting every dim dewdrop, petal, and blade of grass into a galaxy of blazing bulbs and lustrous lamps. On this morning, blooms of golden coreopsis and New Jersey tea are set aglow alongside shimmering spider webs that cling to last year’s grasses.*

Pale Purple Coneflower & Foxglove Beardtongue

Watch this video from about this time last year at Bluff Spring Fen:

In addition to experiencing the prairie as a whole, take a closer look and discover the many attractions that hide in plain sight. Here, within a scene of a thousand coneflowers, I attended a iniature, 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 coneflowers at this dolomite limestone prairie at Theodore Stone Preserve in Hodgkins, Illinois.*

In June, foxglove beardtongue blooms in profusion at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois.*

In June, foxglove beardtongue blooms in profusion in many of Chicago’s prairies.*

Miraculous Spiderwort with Flowers that Melt!

Ohio spiderwort in the morning light at Belmont Prairie in Downers Grove, Illinois.

Spiderwort in the morning light at Belmont Prairie in Downers Grove and at every savanna and prairie that we feature. A flower will open up in the morning and then melt in just a few hours. So, the morning is the time to see the flowers in bloom. Learn more here.

Miraculous Porcupine Grass and Its Spinning Seed!

Porcupine grass (Hesperostipa spartea, previously known as Stipa spartea, for anyone who cares) is a particularly fun and interesting plant because of its fascinating seed. The common name refers to its long needles, which apparently resemble the spines of a porcupine, though I think the needle-like fruit best resembles a six- to seven-inch spear. The seed head represents the blade, and the long shaft is known as the awn. As the javelin-shaped fruit falls from the plant, the heavy seed head leads the way and embeds its sharp tip into the soil. As the awn dries, it twirls counter-clockwise until the shaft becomes so tightly wound that the implanted seed head begins to drill into the ground. Humidity and moisture have the opposite effect on the awn, causing it to uncoil, allowing rain or heavy dew to straighten it out. As the awn unwinds, the seed is left in place. The drilling process resumes when the environment dries out, and the cycle repeats until the seed is deposited as far as three to four inches beneath the surface, where the awn decays and the grain germinates. Seeds of porcupine grass can’t help but drill, so much so that they’ve been known to cause fatal wounds in animals. Hence, trust me when I tell you that putting them in your pocket is a big mistake.

The seeds of porcupine grass are long sharp needles that fall off the plant and slowly drill themselves into the soil. See my video here.

Pasture Rose at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve & Bluff Spring Fen

Pasture Rose in the sand prairie at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve. The fragrance of pasture rose is transcendent—a spiritual experience. 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.*

The fragrance of pasture rose is transcendent—a spiritual experience. 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.*

Belmont Prairie

Belmont prairie is special because it is home to an unusually high number of blooming wildflowers and fascinating plant species. During the month of June, this remnant prairie puts on a most impressive floral display: the celebration of the pale purple coneflower. Mixed amongst the coneflowers, the bright-colored grasses crisscrossing the center of the frame are porcupine grass. Its long spear-like seeds miraculously drill themselves into the earth in a counter-clockwise motion that you can actually watch.*

Bluff Spring Fen

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.*

Pale purple coneflowers rise above the prairie at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin, Illinois.*

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.*

This year, foxglove beardtongue is not as prolific at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin. Their pearl blossoms catch the morning rays and a new day awakens—one as splendid and picturesque as any place on Earth.*

Spears Woods

The late-spring prairie at Spears Woods provides displays of foxglove beardtongue.*

* Photo is representational and was not recorded this year. Bloom times vary from year to year.

SCOUTING NEEDS for my next report on Thursday, June 22 (in rough order of urgency):

Pembroke Savanna: Status of June grass and goat’s rue.
Illinois Beach Nature Preserve: Status of sand coreopsis, pasture rose, hoary puccoon, downy phlox, and spiderwort.
Bluff Spring Fen: Status of pale purple coneflowers, foxglove beardtongue, and prairie coreopsis.
Belmont Prairie: Status of pale purple coneflower, scurfy pea, butterfly weed, and porcupine grass.
Somme Prairie Grove: Status of existing and new blooms.
Miller Woods: Status of hoary puccoon, phlox, and any other flowers that are coming in.
Fermilab Prairie: Status of foxglove beardtongue and whatever else is blooming.
Shoe Factory Road Prairie: Status of prairie coreopsis.
Theodore Stone Preserve: Status of pale purple coneflower and foxglove beardtongue.
Wolf Road Prairie: Status of spiderwort in the prairie.
Middlefork Savanna: Status of spiderwort, foxglove beardtongue, and pale purple coneflower in the prairie.

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