Nature Notes: Fame Flowers

By: Alyssa Nyberg, Efroymson Restoration at Kankakee Sands Here I sit beneath the shadecloth at the Kankakee Sands Nursery at four o'clock in the afternoon. I am just watching and waiting. Beside me are 200 small black pots of prairie fame flower (Phemeranthus rugospermus). Any moment now, the pots will be transformed from a mass of green succulent leaves to a floating sea of pink when the blossoms of the fame flower open. Then within an hour, they will close again. The whole process is absolutely mesmerizing, puzzling, and intriguing. That's why you'll find me here, again, this evening, watching and waiting for the floral show to begin…

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