James Woodworth Prairie

Early July is a verdant time on the Prairie. The sunflowers are getting ready, their relatives like Compass Plant are in full bloom. Monarda, Culver’s Root, Priaire Clover, milkw**d, and many others are going strong. It looks like a nice weekend - see you there!

It’s pollinator week! Get out there and get some photos of our hard-working (mainly) insect friends!

Look who is visiting James Woodworth Prairie today.

Periodical cicada!

HOUR CHANGE FOR SUNDAY 5.19:

The James woodworth Prairie will be open from 11-1.

Welcome back prairie lovers! James Woodworth Prairie is open Saturdays 10-2, as well as other days as posted on Facebook. Come enjoy the splendor of late spring on an Illinois prairie.

Tomorrow, Sunday May 19, the prairie will be open from 12-2. It’s supposed to be a lovely day. Come take a stroll and see what’s blooming!

Fall migration is at a peak. Over 2,000,000 birds crossed Illinois last night. Many stopover to refuel in forest preserves and open land like the James Woodworth Prairie. For more information and to monitor migration go to: https://birdcast.info/

Help migrating birds by having a source of clean water on your property and turning off outside lights at night. Of course creating bird friendly habitat in your yard also helps. Include brush piles and fruit bearing shrubs in your landscape, along with plants that provide seed.

The James Woodworth Prairie has been a hotbed of bird activity lately. Birds love the seed heads of the prairie plants and come to fuel up before their journey.

White white white is a fall color theme on the tallgrass prairie. Late boneset, the last blooms of wild quinine, and this beauty, white heath aster, Symphyotrichum ericoides, are showing off this month.

Asters are critical plants for migrating insects such as the monarch butterfly. They provide nectar for the long journey to the Oyamel forests of Michoacan, Mexico--up to 3000 miles! Watch for trees covered in monarchs now, as they roost together at night during the migration.

Bumblebees, including the hibernating queens, can forage into October on asters and other late blooming forbs. If you want to support pollinators at home, try planting native flowers that bloom throughout the growing season, including fall. Check out previous posts for other color schemes brought to you by our friendly native forbs.

Tomorrow will be a spectacular late summer day. Take some time to breathe in beauty. The James Woodworth Prairie will be open 10am-2pm

Yellow yellow yellow. The prairie is clothed in yellow as we approach fall. And, for the record, none of these plants is responsible for seasonal allergies. That complaint falls squarely on the also-yellow bloom of ragw**d (not shown)

Silphium 101: class is in session!

Compass Plant. Like its sister Prairie dock, Compass plant is a tall prairie plant with a daisy like yellow flower.

Unlike Prairie dock, however, Compass plant has a hairy thick stem with no branching. The leaves are also a give away for identification. Compass plant leaves are deeply lobed, like an oak leaf, unlike the heart shaped leaves of prairie dock. These leaves, like Prairie dock leaves, feel cold to the touch due to the long roots of the plant pulling water from deep underground. Compass plant leaves are alternate and arrange themselves in a north-south direction to maximize photosynthesis and minimize transpiration.

The flowers tend to be found in clusters towards the top half of the stem. The flowers open from the top of the stem down. The center of the flower contains disk florets arranged according to the golden ratio.

Like Rosinw**d, another silphium, compass plant produces a thick sap that was used by indigenous peoples as a chewing gum.

Next up: Rosinw**d

Joel Greenberg, naturalist and author (https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/N/bo3618786.html) brought some friends to visit the prairie today. All enjoyed the late summer blooms on a short stroll around the grounds.

Class is in session....Silphium 101 or what are those really tall yellow flowers?

Glad you asked. They are most likely a member of the Silphium sisters as some like to refer to them. Prairie Dock--Silphium terebinthinaceum (say that three times fast!); Prairie Rosinw**d-- S. integrifolium; Compass Plant--S. laciniatum and Cup Plant--S. perfoliatum. All are members of the Aster family and are in the sunflower tribe. All are at least 6 feet tall. All sport large daisy like flowers. All flower yellow. And all have 10-15 feet long roots. Easy enough to tell them apart right?

1. Prairie Dock: Prairie dock has a thin, smooth branched stem unlike the hairy thick stem of the compass plant that blooms around the same time in mid to late summer. The stems range in color from green to purple. The flower heads are often 2 inches or more across. The sepals of the prairie dock flower resemble an artichoke and are also smooth and hairless. The most striking aspect of prairie dock is its large, stiff cordate basal leaves that remain cool to the touch even during the hottest days of summer. Those roots are pulling water from deep underground! Prairie docks attract many insects and birds and form an ecosystem unto themselves on the tallgrass prairie.

Next up: Compass plant

Good Afternoon and happy Friday everyone! We will be holding special hours tomorrow due to unforeseen circumstances. It is promising to be a beautiful Saturday with a high of 80. Come visit us from 12-4pm to enjoy the late summer beauty of the tallgrass prairie

Rough blazing star, Liatris aspera, begins its blooming season.

Did you know that Illinois is home to 400 to 500 native bee species? Over thousands of years, each one evolved along with native plants to form a mutualistic symbiotic relationship; that is, both species benefit from the interaction. Meet some of our native bees in this blog post from the Field Museum:

https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/meet-chicagos-native-bees #

However, native bee species such as bumble bees are suffering serious population decline. According to researchers at Ohio State University, “the decline of bees is being caused by human actions ― pesticide use, urbanization and more. (Thus) it can be reversed by humans, too.” Learn more about what you can do here:

https://www.osu.edu/impact/research-and-innovation/bee-population

Shown: ligated furrow bee (Halictus ligatus) on sweet black eyed Susan at James Woodworth Prairie

Hello Friends and fans of James Woodworth Prairie! Our little prairie is in need of some TLC! Come cut brush--grey dogwood, willow, maple, green ash and even the nefarious buckthorn--to make more room for our grassland plants to thrive.

We will be hosting a stewardship day this week on Sunday, August 20 from 10am-1pm. Everyone welcome! Work as much or as little as you want. Please dress for the weather, bring a water bottle and a snack, if desired. AND, if you have loppers or other brush cutting tools, bring them too!!!

Why do you need to cut trees down on the prairie???
Excellent question! Glad you asked: Prior to European arrival, North American prairies maintained their 'prairie-ness' through frequent fire. Both mother nature and aboriginal peoples contributed to the fires that help maintain a healthy prairie ecosystem. While we hire professionals to periodically conduct controlled burns at James Woodworth Prairie, our efforts are not sufficient to prevent succession. Succession is the term used to describe the slow overtaking of woody species in grasslands, dunes or other open areas. With out a natural inhibitor, such as fire or human effort, James Woodworth Prairie would naturally begin to transform into a savannah.

(trees pictured: willow, green ash and sumac)

Did you know that prairie plants such as prairie dock, Silphium terebinthinaceum, pictured here have enormously long roots that help aerate the soil and promote drainage. Prairie dock roots are so long that even on the hottest of days in the summer, their large basal leaves are cool to the touch. This phenomena owes to the fact that the long reach of the plant's roots draws water from deep underground. This feature makes prairie dock and other tall grass prairie plants like it resistant to the effects of drought.

Weeeee'rrree Baaack! Open Saturday, August 12, 10am-2pm. The prairie welcomed us back by donning its late summer finery of purples, whites and golds.

Check out our new Instagram feed for more photos and information

The James Woodworth Prairie will be closed on weekends for a few weeks, till early August, while the staff goes on vacation. We will re-open the second weekend of August.

At James Woodworth Prairie this morning!

It’s the 1st of July and the milkw**ds (Asclepia) are in full bloom! (pictured common milkw**d (A. syriaca)

The genus Asclepius is named after the Greek god of medicine, Asklepios. Milkw**d has many uses in indigenous medicine. The James Woodworth Prairie is awash in the scent and sight of blooming milkw**d species.

Did you know that milkw**d is the only plant that the monarch butterfly will lay its eggs on?

Monarchs and milkw**d have a symbiotic relationship dating back millennia. Monarch butterfly populations are in decline—over 80 percent in the last 20 years. Much of the decline is attributed to habitat loss.

You can help by planting milkw**d in your garden. Milkw**d can be a great garden plant. The A. tuberosa species, commonly known as butterfly w**d, is a well behaved shorter milkw**d with eye popping orange blooms. The Field Museum of Chicago and Monarch Joint Venture have more information.

June 19-June 25 is Pollinator Week. About 75% of all flowering plant species need animal pollinators for reproduction. As a result, pollinators contribute to ecosystem health and a sustainable food supply. Celebrate them this !

National Pollinator Week is an annual event celebrated internationally in support of pollinator health. It's a time to celebrate pollinators and spread the word about what we can do to protect them. Additional information can be found at www.pollinator.org/pollinator-week



Celebrate Pollinator Week on Saturday by participating in a BeeBlitz! Photograph bees and upload your pix to BeeSpotter: https://beespotter.org/beeblitz

Then continue celebrating on Sunday with a trip to James Woodworth Prairie on Sunday June 25 to see how many pollinators you can find and maybe identify.

The James Woodworth prairie will be open Sunday this week, but not Saturday.

The James Woodworth prairie is closed today, but open tomorrow 10-2.

Spring flowers on the prairie.