Chicago Nature Now! Alert
July 7, 2017
“Plan your Chicago outdoor adventure with Chicago nature info and news
to help you discover the region’s finest natural wonders.”
Watch my interview about ChicagoNatureNOW! on CBS 2 Chicago “Sunday Morning News” at 6:45 am on Sunday, July 9.
Here’s what’s happening in Chicago nature:
This week, the preserves with the best blooms are Somme Prairie Grove, Bluff Spring Fen, and Shoe Factory Road Prairie. All are featuring grand displays of leadplant, purple prairie clover, and compass plant with golden blooms upon its towering, hairy stalk. You just have to smell the prairie clover. It’s my favorite plant smell. It gives off a refreshing fragrance that resembles a combination of carrot and lemon. Eastern prickly pear cactus is also flowering at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve and other preserves (see info below). Yes, Chicago has a native cactus!
HIGHLIGHTS
Somme Prairie Grove is the preserve of the week for wildflowers. See a spectacular show of leadplant along with many other flowering species, including the refreshingly fragrant purple prairie clover.
Bluff Spring Fen is features a magnificent show of purple prairie clover blooming throughout the preserve.
Shoe Factory Road Prairie offers a fanfare of prairie coreopsis, and leadplant. And in the prairie outside the fence, you’ll find other flowers like pale purple coneflower.
Belmont Prairie is offering a nice presentation of butterfly weed, black-eyed Susan, and mix of other flowers.
Miller Woods is worth visiting, if you’re near Indiana, for its show of New Jersey tea and the chance to find eastern prickly pear cactus in flower. You can even take a walk to the beach where you can experience the cool Lake Michigan water.
PLAN YOUR CHICAGO OUTDOOR ADVENTURE THIS WEEKEND
Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook: Leadplant is putting on a spectacular show, but there are also many different species of colorful flowers in bloom. One of my favorite prairie plants is tuberous (or prairie) Indian plantain, which you can find soon after walking in. You’ll also see the gorgeous purple milkweed that only grows in oak savannas. Take the time to inhale its delicate fragrance. Along your way, you’ll also find another lovely plant—the yellow prairie sundrop and a smattering of other blooms, including wild quinine, rattlesnake master, New Jersey tea, black-eyed Susan, prairie coreopsis, butterfly weed, and tall stalks of compass plants. Soon, you’ll come upon the main event, the purple pageant of leadplant and purple prairie clover. I often speak of the forbs (flowering plants), but the texture of the grasses are also quite beautiful, in particular, prairie dropseed or, as I like to call it, Cousin Itt plant. I love Cousin Itt. He made very few appearances on “The Addams Family,” which made that much more exciting to see Itt as a kid (and as an adult). Now and though the fall, you can see his likeness at Somme Prairie Grove.
Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin: The flowering plant of the moment is purple prairie clover. It’s everywhere. You’ll also find many other flowering species, like yellow black-eyed Susan, yellow coneflower, and rosinweed, along with orange butterfly milkweed and purplish common milkweed.
Shoe Factory Road Prairie is putting on a dramatic show of prairie coreopsis, alongside leadplant and purple prairie clover. And outside the fence on the hillsides, you’ll find other flowers like pale purple coneflower. While you’re here, consider visiting Bluff Spring Fen which is only about fifteen minutes away by car.
Belmont Prairie in Downers Grove: The preserve looks good this week with many plants of bright plants of orange butterfly milkweed, black-eyed Susan, and wild quinine. Other flowering plants include yellow coneflower, rosinweed, and rattlesnake master. As you scan the prairie, look for the towering stalks of compass plant. They’re just stating to bloom with yellow flowers. Compass plant gets its name from directional leaves that face east/west and point north/south.
Miller Woods (Indiana Dunes National Lakeshore) in Gary, Indiana: There’s a big display of New Jersey tea along the Beach Trail that combines beautifully with with yellow blooms of black-eyed Susan. While you’re there, look for eastern prickly pear cactus. It should be blooming, now, but I couldn’t find any. Ask at the visitor center where to find it. If you take the Beach Trail to the end, you’ll be rewarded by the cool waters of Lake Michigan. Please help us scout this preserve.
Experience Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus at these preserves: Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, Miller Woods, Powderhorn Marsh & Prairie, Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve, and Braidwood Dunes.
COMING SOON: PRAIRIE BLAZING STAR
PHOTO SECTION
Purple Prairie Clover
A honey bee flies over to purple prairie clover at Bluff Spring Fen Nature Preserve in Elgin, Illinois. You must smell this refreshingly fragrant flower. To me, its smells like a mix of carrot and lemon. *
There’s hardly a dull moment in Bluff Spring Fen’s prairie. Just as blooms of leadplant and coreopsis fade, purple prairie clover rises to take their place.*
Eastern Prickly Pear Cactus at Sandy Preserves Around the Region
Blooms of eastern prickly pear cactus can be found in late June in sandy preserves around the Chicago area, like Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, Miller Woods, Powderhorn Marsh & Prairie, Jon J. Duerr Forest Preserve, and Braidwood Dunes.*
Somme Prairie Grove
It was a very dry year in Chicago, yet you wouldn’t know it from looking at this scene. 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.*
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.*
Behold! Morning in a Chicagoland prairie. This fine June day awakens to a magnificent panorama of pale purple coneflower, leadplant, and stiff coreopsis.*
At Bluff Spring Fen, in the golden light of morning, wild quinine, stiff coreopsis, and leadplant overlook the foggy fen from atop the reconstructed kame and the remnants of Healy Road Prairie, which was miraculously transplanted here from six miles down the road.*
Shoe Factory Road Prairie
Atop this hill prairie, deep-rooted leadplants combine with the happy yellow faces of coreopsis as they shine through the dissipating fog.*
* Photo is representational and was not recorded this year. Bloom times vary from year to year.
SCOUTING NEEDS for my next report on Thursday, July 13 (in rough order of urgency):
- Somme Prairie Grove: Status of purple prairie clover, leadplant, rattlesnake master, and other blooms.
- Bluff Spring Fen: Status of leadplant, prairie coreopsis, purple prairie clover, and compass plant.
- Shoe Factory Road Prairie: Status of prairie coreopsis, leadplant, purple prairie clover, and rattlesnake master.
- Illinois Beach Nature Preserve: Status of butterfly weed, etc.
- Miller Woods: Status of New Jersey tea and whatever else.
- Powderhorn Prairie: Status including eastern prickly pear cactus.
- Belmont Prairie: Status of butterfly weed and other flowers.
- Fermilab Prairie: General status.
- Wolf Road 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
