It was 68 degrees F under thinly cloudy skies at 6:15 this morning as I solved the question of where to go by deciding to visit a number of spots with native prairie plantings.
On the way south had to stop for a giant hibiscus,
not in a “prairielet” but compelling. they seem especially impressive this year.
Stopped briefly on the edge of Meadowbrook Park, not a “prairie-let” by any means, but it was on the way,
and how could one not stop to check it out?
Then “Texas-exited” the park to Race Street
and rode southward, turning east on Old Church Road to the Barnhart Prairie Restoration. 
Did not find anything spectacular but was glad for the space devoted to prairie plants, and for the bike rack.
From Old Church turned south on First Street. At County Road 1100 N stopped at the pond between First Street and the housing subdivision to behold the blooming pink lotus!
Couldn’t get very close to it, but even from a distance the dabs of pink among the large, round leaves were striking.
Continued southward, wondering whether the roadside prairie I’d seen before in this area was still there or whether it may have been mowed. And then, there it was!
At the edge of a carefully mowed lawn with planted evergreens could make out stalks of compass plants.
Up close, saw yellow coneflowers and purple coneflowers, and Monarda.
And there, amid cup plant and small milkweed foliage and Culver’s root flowers, as I’d hoped, was royal catchfly!
It was a little far from the road and on the other side of a ditch, but I zoomed it in for a documentary photo.
The strip of prairie plants continued southward, and I expected to see more royal catchfly, if memory served; did not expect this,
the utter profusion of bright red flower-stars!
And there were several patches, some close enough to get more detail than from the one at the other end. 
Also was able to photograph them associated with different other plants.
It was a thrill to see this abundance of red flowers at the very peak of their bloom!
Then headed back to town to the little prairie garden behind the Natural Resources Building, on Pennsylvania Avenue. Saw something cool there of which I didn’t remember the identity, but which I recalled seeing on the “Tall-Grass Praires of Illinois” poster. 
(Consulting the poster later revealed that it was flowering spurge, Euforbia corollata.) There were milkweeds I wasn’t sure of:
the blooms were darker pink and the leaves narrower than those of common milkweed, but they didn’t quite look like swamp milkweed, either. Later research suggested it might be prairie milkweed (Asclepias sullivantii).
There were fresh blooms of rattlesnake master. 
And, set off by a handsome cluster of wild quinine flowers,
there was more royal catchfly!
Then rode on and, finally, stopped at the prairie planting at Florida and Orchard.
There was rosinweed (blooms of which have not been especially abundant this year), Monarda,
purple coneflower,
blue vervain,
and Culver’s root. 
Was glad to have located so many prairie flowers in a relatively small area.
And all this bloom is one reason why my vote for best month of the year goes to July.
Velo du Jour 