Native Prairie Plants

This native garden represents only a small fraction of the prairie that once existed here, but its bright flowering forbs and grasses still attract native insects, spiders, and small animals by providing nectar, shelter, and food. Prairie plants have more growth below ground than above, and their dense, deep roots hold soil in place, help rainwater soak deeply into the ground, and enrich the soil as roots die and decompose, leaving benefits that remain even after most prairie plants are gone. Unlike prairie plants, lawn grasses and annual flowers have very shallow roots. A prairie remnant is an ecosystem that has always been prairie and contains microbes, plant types, and insects that occur there without human intervention, while this prairie planting lacks that diversity but still provides food and habitat for species that relied on the original prairie. The garden was planted at the trailhead of the Illinois Prairie Path both to beautify the area and to remind visitors of the open prairie that existed before Europeans arrived, when land west of Lake Michigan was a diverse ecosystem of thousands of species and trees were confined to places that did not burn, and Native Americans depended on the prairie for much of their food. This spot in Maywood was later crossed by the CA&E, the Chicago Aurora and Elgin railroad, built in the early 1900s, but after the nearby expressway was constructed and other transportation became more popular and efficient, train service ended, the tracks were removed in the 1960's, and in 1966 the route officially became the Illinois Prairie Path. The garden was begun by Illinois Prairie Path board members and the Proviso East High School Ecology Club, whose students collected seeds from prairie remnants on the path, transplanted small plants called plugs, and watered and mulched them as they grew to fill the area.

Maywood, Illinois · United States