Richard Bong State Recreation Area
Wildflowers and Other Plants

Nature is on display all around, constantly changing with the season. A spring woodland hike will yield the first blooms of the year—white bloodroot and lavender hepatica.

A carpet of trout lilies in spring bloom
DNR Photo

May apples open like little umbrellas on the forest floor in the spring.
DNR Photo

The prairie is the place to be in summer, when warm breezes part the brilliant patches of prairie smoke (below), coneflowers, butterfly weed, and blazing stars.

Yellow coneflower
DNR Photo

A variety of silphium
DNR Photo

In late summer and fall, the variety of seeds, late-blooming flowers, and brilliant leaves provide interest.

Milkweed pods open to release seeds to the wind.
DNR Photo

For more information, ask Richard Bong State Recreation Area, (262) 878-5600.