Forest Preserves of Cook County 2025 Winter Brochure

a oxaico Media sabella Stocke Other plants contribute in less obvious ways. The white oak and American hop-hornbeam cling to their dried leaves all winter. This not only discourages browsing ani- mals but also prepares the soil for spring. When those leaves finally fall, they enrich the earth with nutrients right as growing season begins, ensuring the forest floor is ready for the next wave of growth. Then there are the hollow stems of plants like milkweed and ironweed. What looks like lifeless stalks sticking out of the snow are actually nurseries. About 30 percent of bee species tuck their eggs inside the stems in the fall, where they wait, safe and sheltered, until spring warmth coaxes them out. Small mammals also take cover in these thickets, making even “dead” stems into vital shelters. Seed heads, too, stay put through the season. The stiff silhouettes of plants like prairie coneflowers are more than winter’s decoration. They’re buffet tables for finches, sparrows and small mammals who depend on the seeds for food when the landscape seems empty. Along waterways, buttonbush takes on a different role. Its roots form protective tangles at the border of land and water. Turtles, who like to bury themselves in mud, find a home in these root webs, shielded from predators like skunks and racoons that patrol for easy meals. And beneath the soil, spring ephemerals like trillium wait with patience. They’re poised to rise as soon as sunlight touches the warming earth, blooming before trees leaf out and shade the forest floor. Dormant does not mean idle. In the hush of winter, plants are feeding, protecting, sheltering and preparing. Without their hidden work, many creatures would not survive the season, and spring would not have the foundation it needs to bloom. Plants Top to bottom: Skunk cabbage, Tina Onderdonk, Frozen chokeberry, White oak, Famartin, CC BY-SA 4.0 <https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0 >, via Wikimedia Commons, Milkweed, Jim Fleming.