Since March, Thursdays have been the high point of my week. On those afternoons I have been volunteering and teaching design (and the many fundamental skills necessary to its practice) at Green Corps located at the Chicago Center for Green Technology (CCGT) and managed by WRD Environmental. Since I have been attending MELA meetings there for many years, the space is familiar. But this year I've had the opportunity to explore the prairie with many others' eyes & ears & noses & hearts on a weekly basis. I love teaching, especially with people who are open and focused on green-collar futures.
Above is one of my favorite plants, Eryngium yuccifolium (Rattlesnake Master) attracting insects. Be careful as it spreads its seed wantonly! But it was very useful for keeping smoking teenagers out of a library garden we did.
Below you can spot another insect on a native prairie plant: Eupatorium maculatum (Joe Pye Weed). I thought the pink looked surprisingly lovely against the pale grassy backdrop of a plant that is very invasive and will hopefully be eradicated soon: Phragmites australis (Common Reed). It colonizes waterways and is a big thug around the country.
At any rate, the prairie is a lab to observe & learn about nature in all its manifestations. So many people imagine gardens as sanctuaries, which they can be, but they are also microcosms and that includes the tranquil and the accompanying shadow sides of life.
3 comments:
This sounds like such an interesting project. I love thinking of the prairie, both tall and short grass, as it must have been before Europeans arrived. We have Joe Pye weed here in Vermont also; it's a lovely wildflower. I also have an invasive grass––reed canary grass––that is taking over the wet area on one side of the pond. We're always fighting invasives, aren't we?
We do have some native prairie remnants which are wonderful. What's incredible about the one at CCGT is that it's on the site of a former industrial brownfield!
As for invasives plants, yes, they are constantly pushing us to rethink paradigms and shift.
CCGTis a great place and it is hard to believe it is now as old as it is. Most of the "green techonologies" are now dated but still as green as ever. What a landmark building and great teaching site. It is hard to believe that CCGT and what you see today was a brownfield...anyone remember "Operation Silver Shovel??"
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