Rewilding Chicago
Or at least bringing a bit of prairie to the urban landscape. I had a chance to visit Horner Park in the Irving Park neighborhood with a colleague. The new naturalistic planting along the Chicago River is thriving!
If you’re in Chicago and environs, you may have noticed more development happening along the river and its branches as former industrial sites are slowly being transformed into urban green spaces. There’s more brewing and some exceptional projects in the works. If you take the architectural boat tour offered by the Chicago Architecture Center (do it!), it’s a much livelier affair than it was when last I went in high school. Although Bubbly Creek still bubbles, herons, ducks, coyotes, fish, and more have found their way back to a much cleaner river. And so have residents.
The eastern boundary of Horner Park snugs up against the North Branch of the Chicago River and is bounded on its other three sides by Montrose Avenue, California Avenue, and Irving Park Road. It features sports courts and fields, a dog park, a new effigy mound in the form of a snake, and lots of walking paths. On a Friday late morning, my friend and I were treated to an older gentlemen practicing saxophone solos - just because.
The new plantings along the river are cut through with a mulch path that brings you up close and personal to the plants. It is steep in places, so be prepared for a slight scramble. It’s popular with dog walkers too.
Illinois bundleflower (Desmanthus illinoensis) seed pods look a lot like brains! How seasonally appropriately spooky.
Oh, but the plants! What a lovely mix of native grasses and forbs! The Illinois bundleflower had all gone to seed and bees were buzzing in the late asters. There is a lot of diversity in the plants, so I expect the insects will be flocking. And it’s quiet. The breeze rustles in the grasses. The river saunters past. A goldfinch feasts on echinacea seeds. You can rub monarda leaves through your fingers to release its spicy perfume and dream about the hummingbirds that will visit next summer. You can feel your blood pressure sink back into your body from the stratosphere where it usually lives.
And all this beauty and lushness and liveliness also controls stormwater and erosion. Beauty and brawn. Something for everyone.
What are some of your favorite surprising urban oases?