An April Prairie Ramble

“My cathedral is…the prairies… . ” —Neil Young

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What a week! Prairie prescribed burns are wrapping up…

Schulenberg Prairie, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL.

…and a visit to central Indiana this past week was a glimpse of spring woodland wildflowers in full bloom, a little bit ahead of ours in the Chicago region. The yellow trout lilies, intriguing from the side…

Yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum), Plainfield, IN.

…and from the back.

Yellow trout lily (Erythronium americanum), Plainfield, IN.

False rue anemone is in full bloom in the Hoosier state.

False rue anemone (Enemion biternatum), Plainfield, IN.

And spring beauties there are, well, beautiful as their name suggests.

Spring beauties (Claytonia virginica), Plainfield, IN.

Driving home to the Chicago suburbs from Indianapolis, a brown sign lures Jeff and me off the highway: “Prophetstown State Park.” I do a quick Google search, and see there is a tallgrass prairie. Prairie! Put the turn signal on. We follow the directions and pull into the parking area.

And what a prairie it is,

Prophetstown State Park Tallgrass Prairie, West Lafayette, IN.

It stretches far and wide, much larger than anything we anticipated. In my mind, I’ve now dubbed this the “Bluebird Tallgrass Prairie” for the number of sapphire feathered sprites that kept us company on our hike.

Eastern bluebirds (Sialia sialis), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

We watched them fly around the nest boxes scattered along the trails. Here, the mama bird does a doublecheck; maybe on a brood of baby blues?

Eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

The males flying out and about gather insects for their hungry families. This bluebird below looks put out with the state of his box, perhaps damaged in the recent tornados and storms in Indiana a week or two ago. Looks like a trip to Home Depot or Menards is in his future.

Eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

Don’t let that look fool you, however. Even though he’ll contribute some nest material to his new home, female bluebirds are the primary nest-builders. She may use the same nest for up to three clutches in a season; each clutch will have two to seven eggs.

We hike the wide mown grassy trails and admire the prairie grasses and dried wildflowers. Some of the prairie’s acres, close to the structures of a replicated Native American village, have been mowed, rather than burned. Maybe to keep the buildings from harm.

Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

Near the houses and barns, a 13-lined ground squirrel darts through the backlit grasses.

13-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

Blue haze hangs in the distance.

Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

As we hike the trails, I notice some old plant friends.

Indian grass.

Indian grass (Sorghastrum nutans), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

Canada wild rye.

Canada wild rye (Elymus canadensis), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

Purpletop tridens, a native perennial bunchgrass.

Purpletop tridens (Tridens flavus cupreus), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

Mountain mint, looking haggard after a long winter.

Mountain mint (Pycnanthemum sp.), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

Rich colors brighten the little bluestem, glowing in the late afternoon slant of sunlight.

Little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

As we point out the prairie plants to each other, a red-winged blackbird serenades us with his Oka-leee!

Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

Another one of the numerous bluebirds makes it a duet.

Red-winged blackbird (Agelaius phoeniceus), and eastern bluebird (Sialia sialis), Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

A tree line marks the prairie’s far boundaries.

Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

The grasses, bent and broken by a long winter, seemed to wash against the trees like waves against the shoreline, emphasizing the constant tension between woodland and prairie.

Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

With all these wonders, it was difficult to get back in the car and head for Chicago. What a respite a prairie hike can be! Such solace.

Prophetstown State Park, West Lafayette, IN.

Prophetstown’s prairie was a serendipitous break from the mind-numbing traffic, a reminder of the tranquility that can be found a few miles from a busy freeway.

A moment to breath, to rekindle our sense of wonder.

Thanks, Prophetstown State Park prairie. And thanks to the staff and volunteers who keep it flourishing.

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The opening quote is an excerpt of one by Grammy Award-winning Neil Young (1945-), a Canadian-American songwriter, musician, film director, and activist. Young has twice been inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame; once as a solo artist, once as a member of the group Buffalo Springfield. Fun fact: Neil Young was a studio session guitarist for the Monkees in 1968. Young has only had one hit in his career—can you guess what it was? Click here to find out.

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Tonight! Literary Gardens — In Person — April 11, 7-8:30 p.m., Glenview Garden Club and Glenview Public Library. Free and open to the public, but seating is limited. Join us! Register here.

Illinois’ Wild and Wonderful Early Bloomers — Monday, April 17, 5-6 p.m., Rock River Garden Club, Dixon, IL. (Closed event for members)

The Tallgrass Prairie: An Introduction — Tuesday, April 18, Algonquin Garden Club, 12:30-2 p.m. (Closed event for members)

Spring Wildflower and Ethnobotany Walk—Thursday, April 20, 8:30-10:30 am or Saturday, April 29, 8:30-10:30am at The Morton Arboretum. Registration information here. (Both walks SOLD OUT, ask to be put on a waiting list)

The Tallgrass Prairie in Popular Culture –Sunday, April 23, 2-5 p.m. The Land Conservancy’s 32nd Annual Celebration, High Tea at the McHenry Country Club, Woodstock, IL. Tickets are $45-$70 — available here.

I’m excited to moderate “In Conversation Online with Robin Wall Kimmerer,” June 21, 2023, 7-8 pm via Zoom . Brought to you by Illinois Libraries Present. Numbers may be limited, so register here soon!

More classes and programs at www.cindycrosby.com

Prairie Beginnings

“Everything will change. Even this perpetual warmth
will change. The fog’s settled steadiness will shift.
The wet orthography of the grass will lose its inherently
clean line along with its stem’s expressive calligraphy.“–Serhiy Zhadan

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Starting over. It sounds good sometimes. Even when it isn’t easy.

Indian hemp/dogbane (Apocynum cannabinum), Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

Maybe that’s one of many reasons to love the tallgrass prairie, and its endless cycle of rejuvenation. I’m reminded of that this week, after the prairie burn.

The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL.

It’s the ultimate restart. Prescribed fire wipes the prairie clean from the previous year in one fiery stroke. It keeps the prairie healthy, mimicking Mother Nature’s lightning strikes and the early fire management of prairie by indigenous people.

The first time you see the aftermath of a prescribe burn it is heart-stopping.

Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

Could anything good come from this devastation? Walking the blackened prairie after the burn, it’s difficult to imagine the prairie staging a comeback. Mordor, J.R.R. Tolkien’s fictional wasted landscape in his The Lord of the Rings series comes to mind.

Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

After the burn, the prairie and prairie savanna may still smolder for a week. Or more.

Schulenberg Prairie Savanna, Lisle, IL.

Only the toughest trees with thick bark, like bur oak and black walnut, eke out a place on the prairie because of its fires. Even these trees may show the fire’s scars and eventually succumb.

Black walnut (Juglans nigra), Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

It’s difficult to imagine a healthy, vibrant landscape as I hike the prairie today, six days after the prescribed fire. But imagination—-and memory—fill in the scorched acres of ash. I close my eyes, and remember the prairie in May….

Shooting star (Dodecatheon meadia), Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL. (May 29, 2018)

…in June…

Pale purple coneflowers (Echinacea purpurea), Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL (June 14, 2021).

…in July…

Culver’s Root (Veronicastrum virginicum) with a pollinator (possibly an eastern carpenter bee, Xylocopa virginica) Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL (July 7, 2018).

…then August.

Wingstem (Verbesina alternifolia), Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL. (August 23, 2019).

Spring rains and summer heat will soon ignite the wildflowers and grasses. They’ll explode in a vibrant community of color, motion and light.

Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL (June 27, 2021)

Butterflies and bees will move from flower to flower. Birdsong will flood the tallgrass.

For now, only a lone robin hops across the charred earth, looking for worms.

American robin (Turdus migratorius), Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

Inhaling the scent of smoke—seeing the 360-degree expanse of fire-kissed earth—it defies belief to believe the impossible. But I believe. I have faith in this cycle, this resurrection. Soon. Very soon. Everything will be changed.

Ice on the Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

I shake mud and cinders from my boots and feel my spirits lift. Each day is going to be a little brighter. Full of new and exciting discoveries. Under the earth, the prairie is stirring. The transition has begun.

The first furry pasque flower shoots (Pulsatilla patens), Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

I love this time of year.

Willoway Brook, Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

Welcome, new beginnings.

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Serhiy Zhadan (1974-) is a contemporary Ukrainian poet, essayist and novelist. These lines were translated by Amelia Glaser and Yuliya Ilchuk for LitHub.

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Join Cindy for a class or program in April! Visit http://www.cindycrosby.com for more.

Tuesday, April 12, 7-8:30 p.m. The Tallgrass Prairie: Grocery Store, Apothecary, and Love Charm Shop at Glenview Public Library, Glenview, IL (open to the public). Click here for details.

Wednesday, April 13, 7-8 p.m. Add a Little Prairie to Your Garden for Glencoe Public Library and Friends of the Green Bay Trail. Online and open to the public. Register here.

April 25, 9:30-11am The Tallgrass Prairie: Grocery Store, Apothecary, and Love Charm Shop with Country Home and Garden Club, Barrington, IL (in person). Closed event. For more information on the garden club click here.

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April 1-April 30th-–Attention all poets and pollinator lovers! Check out this exciting project YOU can contribute to!

DuPage Monarch Project invites you to participate in Poets for Pollinators, a month-long celebration of nature’s wonders through poetry. Poems featuring bees, butterflies, birds and all pollinating creatures, as well as ones expressing the joy, comfort and delight found in nature will be posted on DuPage Monarch Project’s Facebook page April 1^st – April 30^th. New and experienced poets of all ages are welcome; this celebration is open to everyone.  Multiple entries will be accepted. Please send poems to Lonnie Morris at dupagemonarchs@gmail.com.  Poems may be pasted into the email or included as an attachment.  Authorship will be given unless anonymity is requested.  Formatting in Facebook is challenging but we will make every attempt to present the poem as you have written it.  Original photos are welcome.  If you don’t have a photo of a favorite pollinator, one will be selected from the DMP photo library.  If photos are sent, please include the name of the person who took the photo. By submitting a poem, you are granting DuPage Monarch Project the right to share it on the DuPage Monarch Project Facebook page.  The poem will not be shared, used or included in any other manner than the Facebook post during the month of April.

A Salute to Prairie Week

“The prairie is one of those plainly visible things that you can’t photograph. No camera lens can take in a big enough piece of it. The prairie landscape embraces the whole of the sky.”—Paul Gruchow

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“Prairie Week,” so designated by the Illinois legislature as the third week in September, draws to a close today.

Summer on the Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

When you think of the word “prairie,” what comes to mind?

Sunset, College of DuPage East Prairie Study Area, Glen Ellyn, IL.

Is it prescribed fire, decimating the old, and encouraging the new?

Prescribed burn, Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

Is it the sweep of the charred land, with a whisper of green?

After the fire, Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

Is it the prairie in springtime, covered with shooting star?

Shooting star (Dodecatheon meadia), Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

Or do you imagine the summer prairie, spangled with blooms?

Pale purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida), Schulenberg Prairie, Lisle, IL.

Is it the smell of prairie dropseed, tickling your nose in the fall? Mmmm. That hot buttered popcorn smell, tinged with something undefinable.

Prairie dropseed (Sporobolus heterolepis), Crosby backyard, Glen Ellyn, IL.

Or do you see prairie limned with snow, in its winter colors?

Sorenson Prairie in January, Afton, IL.

When you think of the word “prairie,” what comes to your mind?

Is it the call of dickcissel?

Dickcissel (Spiza americana), Nachusa Grasslands, Franklin Grove, IL.

Is it a butterfly that you see in your mind’s eye?

Regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia), Nachusa Grasslands, Franklin Grove, IL.

Or is it bison, claiming the Midwest tallgrass as their own?

What comes to your mind when you think of prairie?

Golden Alexanders (Zizia aurea), Vermont Cemetery Prairie, Naperville, IL.

It isn’t as important what you think of when you imagine prairie as this: That you think of prairie at all.

Monarchs (Danaus plexippus) and viceroys (Limenitis archippus) on stiff goldenrod (Oligoneuron rigidum), Kankakee Sands, Morocco, IN.

Often.

Belmont Prairie, Downers Grove, IL.

And then, make it your own.

Wild lupine (Lupinus perennis), Kankakee Sands, Morocco, IN.

Here, in the prairie state.

Belmont Prairie, Downers Grove, IL.

Our landscape of home.

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The opening quote is from Paul Gruchow’s  (1947-2004) wonderful book, Journal of a Prairie Year. The full quote reads: . “The prairie is one of those plainly visible things that you can’t photograph. No camera lens can take in a big enough piece of it. The prairie landscape embraces the whole of the sky. Any undistorted image is too flat to represent the impression of immersion that is central to being on the prairie. The experience is a kind of baptism.” Gruchow’s legacy of love for the prairie continues to connect and engage people’s hearts and minds with the tallgrass.

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Join Cindy for a program or class!

Just moved ONLINE: September 27, 7-8:30 p.m.–-“The Tallgrass Prairie: Illinois Original Garden” Arlington Heights Garden Club. Please visit the club’s website here for guest information.

ONLINE –Nature Writing Workshop 2 (through the Morton Arboretum): Deepen your connection to nature and improve your writing skills in this  online guided workshop from The Morton Arboretum. This interactive class is the next step for those who’ve completed the Foundations of Nature Writing (N095), or for those with some foundational writing experience looking to further their expertise within a supportive community of fellow nature writers. Please note: This is a “live” workshop; no curriculum. For details and registration, click here. Online access for introductions and discussion boards opens October 12; live sessions on Zoom are four Tuesdays: October 19, October 26, November 2, and November 9, 6:30-8:30 pm.

For more classes and programs, visit Cindy’s website at http://www.cindycrosby.com. Hope to see you soon!

Internet issues delayed today’s post. Thank you for your patience!

A Holiday Hike in the Tallgrass

“If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”—Laura Ingalls Wilder

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It’s 50 degrees. Can it really be December?

Jeff and I took a break from wrapping gifts this weekend and went for a hike on the Belmont Prairie, a small remnant in Downer’s Grove, IL. The weather was flawless.

We were greeted immediately.

As a prairie steward, deer aren’t a welcome sight. But I enjoyed the fluid grace of this white-tail in motion as it bounded into the treeline. Nearby, flattened grasses showed where the deer may have spent the night.

Many prairie plants in December are almost unrecognizable. Goldenrod leaves , shaped by weather and age, look like ribbon curls. Remember old-fashioned ribbon candy? It was a staple of my childhood holidays. This stage of the plant brings it to mind, albeit with a little less color.

Goldenrod gall rosettes are as jaunty as spring wildflowers. It’s difficult to believe an insect is the artist behind this creation.

The bright sunshine and deep shadows of early afternoon throw familiar plants into unfamiliarity. Rattlesnake master leaves, toothed and deeply grooved, bear little resemblance to the juicy green foliage of spring and summer.

The rattlesnake master seedheads are brittle and alien-esque in the bright sun.

Prairie dock leaves remind me of an elephant’s trunk.

I hum tunes from “The Nutcracker” when I see these picked-over pale purple coneflower seedheads on the prairie. This one looks like a ballerina in a stiff tutu with her hands in the air.

I love the backlit drum major’s baton of the round-headed bush clover…

…and the weathered beads of wild quinine, like tarnished silver that needs a little polishing.

On this unseasonably warm day, I think of the Schulenberg Prairie where  I’m a steward and the volunteer hours my team spent weeding and cutting; planting plugs and seeding this year. Many of them, through patient ID work, discovered several new plant species. By coming out to the prairie at night, we were able to ID almost a hundred moth species new to our site this season. Patiently, volunteers made progress on invasive plant removal. We renovated our prairie display beds. Made our prairie more visitor-friendly. All reasons to celebrate.

There were some disappointments. I think of a few tasks undone. The seeding that didn’t work out. The back-ordered equipment that never arrived.  New signs that were damaged and now, need to be replaced. All part of caring and preserving precious prairie places. Beautiful places like the prairie where I’m hiking today.

It’s good to take a moment and pause before the new year begins, with all its planning and possibilities. To feel joy over a year well spent. To be grateful for the many people and organizations who make these prairies possible through their hard work, vision, and support.

To be grateful for the progress we made. Always, it seems our efforts are three steps forward, two steps back. But always…progress. Worth celebrating.

Happy Holidays, Merry Christmas, and a Wonderful New Year to All!

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Laura Ingalls Wilder, whose quote opens this post, was the popular author of the “Little House” children’s series. I’ve been reading Caroline Fraser’s Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder this week and am struck anew by the hardships and difficulties families experienced through westward expansion, the Dustbowl years, and the Great Depression. Quite a different perspective than I had reading these books as a child! Winner of the 2018 Pulitzer Prize.

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All photos this week copyright Cindy Crosby and taken at Belmont Prairie Nature Preserve, Downer’s Grove, IL, unless noted otherwise (top to bottom) : thimbleweed (Anemone cylindrica); view from the trail looking toward subdivision; white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus); flattened prairie grasses; goldenrod leaves (Oligoneuron rigidum); goldenrod gall rosette (Rhopalomyia solidaginis);  rattlesnake master leaves (Eryngium yuccafolium), rattlesnake master seedheads (Eryngium yuccafolium); prairie dock (Silphium terebinthinaceum); pale purple coneflower seeds (Echinacea pallida); round-headed bush clover (Lespedeza capitata); wild quinine (Parthenium integrifolium), the prairie in December; milkweed (Asclepias syriaca) pappus; Christmas ornament, author’s yard, Glen Ellyn, IL.

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Please join Cindy at one of her upcoming classes or talks in the new year!

Nature Writing and Art Retreat, The Morton Arboretum, Lisle, IL, February 22 (Saturday) 8 a.m.-4 p.m. Cindy will be facilitating the writing portion. Register here.

Tallgrass Prairie Ecology Online begins March 26.  Details and registration here.

Nature Writing Workshop (a blended online and in-person course, three Tuesday evenings in-person) begins March 3 at The Morton Arboretum. For details and registration, click here.