SOME OF THE WILDFLOWERS WE DISCOVERED !
It's Labor Day and we decided to go for a ride. I especially wanting to get into the country which isn't an easy task here in Chicagoland. While our village is surrounded by Forest Preserves finding undeveloped raw open space is quite hard - Chicagoland stretches for 30 miles in every direction and most of it is developed. A countryside of small villages has over the years become one large mass of development. We are lucky in many ways because our immediate area contains lots of preserved open space creating a more comfortable living environment.
So we decided to head out to the Fox River - about 30 miles due west of Chicago are St. Charles and Geneva - two charming, historic villages about 10 miles apart. The river front between the two villages has been largely preserved as open space and parks so it's a chance to get out into nature for a few hours. Bella came along to keep us company.
We found a small park about half way between the two villages with parking for just 8 cars surrounded by woods and prairie. After lunch of some sandwiches we purchased on the way, Bella and I took a walk along the river - it was a glorious day - 70 degrees, sunny.
Bella and I then decided to go into the prairie - in this case a field of several acres that in early September is a thick, overgrown mass of wildflowers, weeds, grasses, and native plants that tower six feet plus. The display was overwhelming - dozens of native plants in full bloom.
WHITES, YELLOWS, BLUES, PURPLES! I picked over a dozen plants that are fall flowering and observed probably another two dozen that are spring or summer bloomers.
Now the fun begins! I'm horrible at plant identification. For the next several days I'll be consulting wildflower books trying to identify my finds. The array of colors, textures of leaves and plant forms boggles the mind. I WANT TO GROW NATIVE ILLINOIS PRAIRIE WILDFLOWERS!
