|
|
News from Garfield Farm |
What: Guided Wildflower Walk
When April 21, 2012, 9:30 am
Where: Garfield Farm Museum 3N016 Garfield Road Campton Hills IL 60175
Fee: $6
Contact: 630 584 -8485 or info@garfieldfarm.org
On Saturday, April 21st at 9:30 am
Garfield Farm Museum will hold a woodland wildflower walk through the
Garfield Harley Pond & Woods. Jerome Johnson, museum
biologist, will lead the hike identifying plants and discussing the
history of the woods and the unique features of this ephemeral wetland.
This is one of the most unusual growing seasons
on record. Plants that normally bloom days if not weeks apart have been
blooming simultaneously. Where typically the first prominent woodland
wildflower, bloodroot, would now just be ending its bloom, flowers
associated with early June like the wild geranium are blooming. In many
ways the concurrent blooming is almost like the fantasy image of what a
woodland spring flora would be like. Most unexpected is the blooming of
water crowfoot and this last week turned the surface of the pond bright
yellow under blue skies. Normally this plant blooms in June. This and
other anomalies will be observed in what is essentially a once in a
lifetime occurrence.
Timothy Garfield who came to Campton
Township in 1841 had four sons and four daughters. Seven of these
children married and lived on farms within 3 miles of their father's
homestead. Jefferson Adams Garfield purchased his farm about 1863 and
his grandson, Garfield Harley last actively farmed it in the 1980s. In
2002, the museum's preservation agency, Campton Historic Agricultural
Lands, raised funds to purchase the 9 acre wood lot containing the pond
from the BFB Land Partnership that developed Sunset Villa Estates. In
subsequent years, the Campton Township Open Space Plan acquired and
protected neighboring natural areas and properties protecting the
waters of Harley Pond.
This temporal pond dries down every year
preventing fish from inhabiting it, thus making a critical protected
habitat for amphibian eggs and larva. Temporary wetlands, some no
bigger than a bathtub, are important for the lifecycle of frogs and
salamanders that must lay eggs in an aquatic environment that will
persist long enough for their young to mature. Such overlooked
seemingly insignificant pools are often ignored and filled in so some
states like Massachusetts have programs to recognize and protect such
habitats. A conference on such wetlands was held in Chicago in the
1990s and provided the inspiration for saving Harley's Pond.
Participants are encouraged to call 630
584-8485 for reservations or email info@arfieldfarm.org. There is a $6
donation for the 2.5 hour hike. Long pants, socks and hiking shoes are
needed for poison ivy protection.