Tour of the 2-acre prairie

Join the Little Garden Club of Wilmette and the Audubon Great Lakes Region for a tour of the 2-acre prairie in and around the water detention basin in Wilmette's Centennial Park. There, thousands of native flowers and grasses support untold numbers of colorful and fascinating pollinators like butterflies, moths, bees, beneficial wasps (and unidentified bugs), grasshoppers, dragonflies, and fireflies. In spring, red-winged blackbirds nest in the central wetland. Summer visitors include swooping swallows, hummingbirds, and flocks of goldfinches. The site holds resident voles and visiting rabbits. Surrounded by moving cars, buses, and trucks, the prairie's wildlife - oblivious to the traffic - reside safely in their small oasis. Charlotte Adelman, author of Midwestern Native Shrubs and Trees, which will be discussed at the July 9 Go Green Reads discussion, will lead the tour.