Chicago Nature NOW! Alert
July 16, 2021
“Weekly Wildflower Reports Featuring
Chicago’s Best Outdoor Getaways & Nature Trips”
Chicago’s Best Weekend Walks & Outdoor Getaways!
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WILDFLOWER HIGHLIGHTS TO HELP YOU PLAN YOUR OUTDOOR ADVENTURES INTO CHICAGO’S WOODLANDS:
This is an exciting time to visit the prairies and savannas, as many beautiful flower shows are simultaneously taking place throughout the region. Again, the best flower show is being held in the oak savanna at Somme Prairie Grove. It is a must-see event! Last week, deep purple leadplant was the star, but it has now faded to mauve. However, as leadplant’s understudy, purple prairie clover (our Plant of the Week) has taken over the leading role and has spread to theaters across the preserve. And don’t get me started on the spectacular shows of mountain mint, wild quinine, and compass plant. So much is happening here! See my shot Wednesday, July 14 under Photo Section.
The gravelly prairies at Shoe Factory Road Prairie and Bluff Spring Fen are also featuring purple prairie clover and many other blooms. Spears Woods and Wolf Road Prairie are also aflower with many species, including the omnipresent cauliflower heads of wild quinine, which can be found at any of our mesic prairies. Belmont Prairie is producing blasts of orange butterfly weed and a variety of colors, including the lavenders of wild bergamot and mountain mint (both members of the mint family). While we’re on the subject of scents, check out the yellow coneflower seed heads that smell of licorice. And definitely push your nose into purple prairie clover. Speaking of clover, that reminds me of the true story of a rabbit that was running across the yard with a confiscated carrot when it collided with a young entrepreneur squeezing lemons into a pitcher for his lemonade stand. In addition to the hilarious explosion of bunny and child, orange and yellow also collided. The rabbit screamed, “You got lemons on my carrot.” And the kid yelled, “Well, you got carrot on my lemons. And I think you broke my nose!” The kid was taken to the emergency room and fitted with a full head cast with four holes. Upon his return from the hospital, the kid and the bunny became fast friends. Well, at least we can agree that the bunny was fast. It was the bunny’s speed that started this whole mess. When the kid’s face healed after several months of physical therapy and grueling nose-bending exercises to help him learn how to use both nostrils again, the bunny and the kid started a business. They gave it the unlikely name of “Bunny and The Kid.” They sold billions and billions of picoliters of their new refreshing concoction made with the flavors and scents from carrots and lemons. But they only charged a fiftieth-of-a-dollar per glass. And at that price, their business went under. What were they thinking? Any bunny would have charged more. But that’s what you get when you create a business plan off of a bad pun, “Two scents for two cents.” And those are my two cents.
Here is my most profound recommendation for enjoying your time in nature. If the preserve allows, arrive before first light. A morning rendezvous with nature is a magical experience that vastly transcends what’s possible at other times of day. In the early bright, the world expands beyond the usual three dimensions, as the transformation from darkness into light excites more than just the visual sense. As night gives birth to dawn, and the landscape gently turns from azure to gold, the soft and changing light is a spectacle for the eyes. A moist fog or a splash of crisp dew against your skin affirms your existence. The still atmosphere concentrates the fragrances floating in the air and provides a tranquil stage for birds to project their crystal melodies. In the morning, you’ll find all this, along with the promise of a new day.
This is the time when a dramatic wetland plant begins to flower, the aquatic American lotus. 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 Photo Section below for images of American lotus (and where to find it) along with the many flowers featured in this report.
If you’re looking for longer walks, try our larger preserves: Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, Lake in the Hills Fen, Spears Woods, and Somme Prairie Grove.
WHERE TO GO THIS WEEKEND FOR A SPRING WILDFLOWER GETAWAY 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 on the coming weekend: “+” is Probably Better; “-” is Probably Less Dramatic; “=” is Probably the Same. Notice the word “probably.”
THIS WEEK’S BEST (“GO!”):
The order of the preserves below is based on the quality of the wildflower experience, starting out with the best.
Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook (7/13+): The beauty of the preserve is indescribable. It’s a must-see moment. The knobs located under the open skies to the north are home to scenes filled with an amalgam of color, texture, joy, inspiration, and life. Passionate purples and pinks mix with sparkling whites and startling explosions of orange. Glorious golds begin at your feet and rise toward the clouds. And all this upon a flowing canvas shaped by emerald hearts, mops and bottlebrushes. You’ll find purple prairie clover, leadplant, fabulous filigrees of mountain mint, early goldenrod, wild quinine, butterfly weed, black-eyed Susan, compass plant, rattlesnake master, wild bergamot, prairie dock, and prairie dropseed. Blooms of purple prairie clover have now spread to put on vibrant shows in other parts of the savanna. And on your way to the knobs, you’ll find these same flowers, like towering forests of compass plant, plus several more: yellow coneflower, swamp milkweed, Culver’s root, and flowering spurge. Also take this time to appreciate the beautiful textures from the foliage of sedges, grasses, and bloomers-to-be, including the floppy hairdos of prairie dropseed, heart-shaped leaves of prairie dock, desert-looking rattlesnake master, and fern-looking leadplant. In the woodland, you’ll find sweet Joe-Pye weed.
Wolf Road Prairie in Westchester (7/14+): The flower show is happening in the southmost portion of the prairie with the most dramatic performance coming from wild quinine. New plants are starting to bloom and the color is getting better by the day. White, lavender, and yellow make up the color palette. Along the way, you’ll also experience fresh stalks of Culver’s root, alongside rattlesnake master, yellow coneflower, rosinweed, wild bergamot, and the occasional flowering spurge. You’ll also find a smattering of yellow-petaled black-eyed Susan and towering stalks of compass plant. The purple spiked prairie blazing star is just starting to bloom. The textures and colors of the foliage adds to excitement, including the blue-greens of rattlesnake master and hundreds of prairie dock hearts that glow in the light of a low sun.
Belmont Prairie in Downers Grove (7/12+): This is good time to visit this remnant prairie where several colorful plants bloom at once. I suggest visiting early or late in the day when it’s cooler and when you can experience the glorious green glow—leaves that glow a bright green from the sunlight shining through them. The dramatic alabaster blooms of wild quinine instantly gets your attention alongside golden black-eyed Susan. But the shocking orange of butterfly weed steals the show with dramatic surges of vibrancy throughout the prairie. New lavender plumes of wild bergamot are beginning to fill the pink-and-blue void left by scurfy pea. Fading pale purple coneflower and leadplant are still looking pretty good. Yellow coneflower is starting to flower along with mountain mint and rattlesnake master. And I just love looming forests of blooming compass plant.
Spears Woods in Willow Springs (7/14+): The prairies are looking very nice. “Sparkling white” describes the scene as alabaster inflorescences of wild quinine flower across the panorama, joined by glistening blossoms of mountain mint and the ivory Tinker Toy heads of rattlesnake master. You’ll discover a few explosions of the orange butterfly weed and Michigan lily along with the golds of skyward compass plant, black-eyed Susan, the start of early goldenrod, and some early blooming sawtooth sunflower. Lavender tones of wild bergamot are beginning to flower and some prairie blazing star are just starting to show off their purple spikes. If you stand at a high spot, scan the prairie below for the orange Silly String of parasitic field dodder draped over and around the plants that it’s feeding on. Thanks to spring’s prescribed fire, the prairie is green and clean, uncluttered by last year’s tan skeletons. Spears Woods is one of the most beautiful sites in the region, where various trails guide you through woodlands, prairies, and wetlands.
Theodore Stone Preserve in Hodgkins (7/14+): The big displays come from large expanse of yellow coneflower and wild bergamot in the western grassland, which outshines the purple prairie clover in the dolomite prairie to the east. Along your hike, you’ll come upon the whites of wild quinine, fragrant mountain mint, and whimsical rattlesnake master. And you’ll find yellows in the petals of compass plant, black-eyed Susan, and the heads of early goldenrod. In low or damp areas, look for the deep pinks of swamp milkweed.
Shoe Factory Road Prairie in Hoffman Estates (7/10=): Several flowers are blooming at the official Illinois Nature Preserve inside the fence at the top of the hill, including a fantastic show of bee-loving purple prairie clover at peak bloom. Along the way you’ll find leadplant, early goldenrod, wild quinine, wild bergamot, and compass plant. There’s also a lot flowering along the slope outside the fence and the surrounding preserve. You’ll experience a vast amount of wild quinine growing with wild bergamot, yellow coneflower, muted leadplant, purple prairie clover, a sprinkling of black-eyed Susan, and big displays of rattlesnake master with its molecular flower heads. NOTE: Consider visiting Bluff Spring Fen while you’re here. It’s roughly in the neighborhood.
Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin (7/13+): The preserve is a “Go!” thanks to the performance taking place around the transplant kame located east along the southern border. The show features a large cast of actors, including flirtatious bees that move from one flower to another. Flibbertigibbets, they crash and carouse each and every party, group, and gathering: clans of tall and handsome compass plant, cliques of dainty yellow coneflower and aloof vervain, clubs of quinine, and bashes of bergamot. But the best are the celebrations of prairie clover, where bees become giddy with excitement. After all, the purple flowers offers the region’s most refreshing fragrance. Imagine a pile of lemons and carrots. Now, while watching out for bunnies, run over it with an electric lawn mower. Ah, the sweet aroma.
The remainder of the preserve is predominantly green, yet features the aforementioned flowers and a handful of additions, including prairie coreopsis, butterfly weed, rattlesnake master, and the start of marsh blazing star and spotted Joe-Pye weed.
GO, IF YOU’RE IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD:
Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion (7/12=): The preserve has its share of flowers, but not nearly as many as the big shows further south. And there are lots of monarch butterflies! The brilliant orange blossoms of butterfly weed are the highlight of the black oak savanna while flowering spurge with its floating white sprays is the star of the sand prairie. Along the way, you should see black-eyed Susan, common milkweed, purple prairie clover, shrubby cinquefoil, the remaining Ohio spiderwort, and the occasional Cleland’s evening primrose.
Lake in the Hills Fen in Lake in the Hills (Unscouted. Last scouted on 7/9.): This preserve offers a beautiful expansive view that is best enjoyed at edges of daylight, when it’s now hot and sunny. Enjoy an array of flowers that flow along the vast rolling landscape of the prairie and fen, including the lavenders of wild bergamot, white and purple prairie clover, golden black-eyed Susan and yellow coneflower, pale purple coneflower, and mauve common milkweed that smells like a bunch of over-perfumed old ladies on Bingo night.
Gensburg-Markham Prairie in Markham (7/14+): First of all, the preserve is NOT LOCKED. It only looks that way. The chain is just draped over the top of the gate. Just move the chain and enter. Once inside, I suggest walking all of the trails because of how the prairie and flowers vary along the way. If you’re in the Markham area, it’s worth a trip into nature to clear your head. The most prominent flowers are wild quinine and rattlesnake master. There’s also some Culver’s root, golden black-eyed Susan and yellow coneflower, lavender wild bergamot, mauve common milkweed, pink marsh phlox, and ivory tuberous Indian plantain. In the water, look for the deep pinks of swamp milkweed and the gorgeous purple spikes of pickerel weed. And don’t forget to appreciate the oceans of grasses that wave in the warm summer winds.
NOTE: Under the summer sun, this prairie can feel hot and bright. For a more enjoyable time, visit in the morning or late-afternoon.
PLANT OF THE WEEK: PURPLE PRAIRIE CLOVER
The flowers of purple prairie clover emanate my favorite (nice) smell in Chicago nature, giving off the fresh scent of carrots and lemon. Here, a honey bee flies over to purple prairie clover at Bluff Spring Fen Nature Preserve in Elgin. You can also find an abundance at Somme Prairie Grove and Shoe Factory Road Prairie, and in fewer numbers at Wolf Road Prairie, Gensburg Markham Prairie, and Illinois Beach Nature Preserve.*
PHOTO SECTION
Purple Prairie Clover and its Remarkably Fresh Scent
As you can see here, a show of purple prairie clover at Bluff Spring Fen Nature Preserve can be dramatic. But not this year. Instead, head over to Somme Prairie Grove for a glorious display.*
Yellow Coneflower
Yellow coneflower (aka, gray-headed coneflower) is a pioneer species of the prairie. It colonizes disturbed or degraded habitats until conditions improve, when it allows other plants to move in, leading to a more stable and biodiverse ecosystem. The flowers perch atop slender stems that rise to four feet tall. At that height, it’s easy to take a licorice scented brown cones. Yellow coneflowers bloom throughout the region’s prairies including here in the mesic prairie in the western half of Theodore Stone Preserve in Hodgkins.*
Rattlesnake Master
Rattlesnake master is a whimsical Chicago prairie flower with heads that resemble Tinker Toys, or molecular structures, plants you might find in Arizona or Texas. The plant gets its name because 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.*
American Lotus at Tomahawk Slough
Tomahawk Slough in Willow Springs fills with American Lotus. You can also see it from a distance at Hogwash Slough in Spears Woods.
Tomahawk Slough in Willow Springs teems 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.
Butterfly Weed is Ending
Coral hairstreak butterfly on butterfly weed at Gensburg-Markham Prairie in Markham, Illinois.*
Here at Belmont Prairie in Downers Grove, the bright orange flowers of butterfly weed makes a colorful statement. You can find this plant at several high-quality preserves, including Bluff Spring Fen, Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, and Somme Prairie Grove.*
Butterfly weed blooms across the oak savanna at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve. You can also find it at many other preserves including, Somme Prairie Grove, Belmont Prairie, and Bluff Spring Fen.*
Leadplant is Fading
Here at Somme Prairie Grove, 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.*
Somme Prairie Grove is Overflowing with Beauty and Biodiversity
On Wednesday, July 14, the many flowers of the oak savanna at Somme Prairie Grove sparkled brilliantly in the last light of day.*
Here at Somme Prairie Grove we see the large, deeply lobed leaf of compass plant among a sea of purple prairie clover.*
Purple prairie clover and mountain mint steal the show in this area of Somme Prairie Grove in Northbrook.*
Wild Quinine Can Be Found in Many Prairies
This is a common scene at Elgin’s Bluff Spring Fen. Here in the golden light of morning, wild quinine, prairie coreopsis, and leadplant overlook the foggy fen.
Marram Grass
Near the Lake Michigan shore at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve, amidst marram grass and bearberry, the low light of morning revealed shapes in the sand that chronicled the secrets of time and affirmed the existence of wondrous creatures and invisible forces.*
Compass Plant
The golden flowers of compass plant begin to bloom atop a stalk that reaches for the sky. They’re an iconic species that can be found in most of our mesic prairies. *
Landscape of compass plant at Springbrook Prairie in Naperville.*
Evening Primrose
Cleland’s evening primrose blooms in the purple morning light along the sandy Lake Michigan shore at Illinois Beach Nature Preserve in Zion, Illinois.*
Culver’s Root is Beginning to Flower
Culver’s root is beginning to bloom en masse at Wolf Road Prairie in Westchester.*
Mountain Mint
Inhale the invigorating white flowers of mountain mint that grow here at Spears Woods and at many other preserves on our list.*
Wild Bergamot & Yellow Coneflower are Reaching Peak
“Lavender in color and mint in fragrance” describes wild bergamot. “Whimsical with an aroma of anise” describes yellow coneflower. Both are native to the prairie, and both are healers. Known as pioneer species, they are among the first plants to colonize disturbed or degraded areas. Their presence improves soil quality while allowing other plants to move in, leading to greater biodiversity. You can see and smell these plants at most prairies, including here at Bluff Spring Fen in Elgin.*
Michigan Lily
Michigan lily can be found at a handful of our showcase preserves, including Spears Woods and Wolf Road Prairie.*
The Charismatic Foliage of Compass Plant & Prairie Dock
These are the large leaves of the prairie’s most iconic plants. The heart-shaped leaf is that of prairie dock, while the long-lobed leaf is its cousin, compass plant.
Green glow describes leaves that glow a bright green from sunlight shining through them. Here, we see a special kind of green glow that results in a shadow play, as sunlight shines through a translucent leaf of prairie dock, and casts the distinctive silhouette of golden Alexander.*
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.
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—Mike
