Oh my goodness, have I actually caught up?? I’m finally writing about the most recent site, phew!
This site was super hilly (unlike all the other sites) because it was made from the sludge pulled from Lake Michigan when the city made the nearby beach. That’s how we ended up giving in the nickname “Wavy,” as opposed to the Burnham Centennial South site closer to the lake (which we called “Lake.”) It was pretty cool to be on a hilly prairie for once! It’s an older Chicago Park District restoration, and thus is has more forbs (wildflowers), which is what prairie restorations focused on before people figured that grasses were pretty important to grasslands. But a whole bunch of flowers means a whole bunch of pretty pictures!
Dalea purpurea (Purple Prairie Clover, close-up)
Solidago rigida (Stiff Goldenrod, foreground)
Despite it’s name, this has been called one of the prairie’s best natural toilet papers! You learn all kinds of things in this job.
Asclepias tuberosa (Butterfly Weed)
Pretty striking orange, wouldn’t you say?
Echinacea purpurea (Purple Cone Flower)
One of my favorites. And purple (GO CATS!)
Verbena hastata (Blue Vervain)
We’ve seen the leaves for this one since the beginning, but now it’s finally starting to bloom! Beautiful little purple flowers.
The downside of this site: there were a ton of HUGE thistles! At least they weren’t the stinging variety! Unfortunately some thistles are in fact native to Illinois, so I’m not allowed to eradicate them as I go.