Sneezeweed (Helenium autumnale) is one of the most valuable late-season plants in a Chicago native garden, offering both beauty and ecological benefit just when many other blooms have faded. Its golden, daisy-like flowers provide abundant nectar and pollen for native bees, butterflies, and hoverflies from August through October—sustaining pollinators preparing for winter. Thriving in the region’s heavy, moist soils, sneezeweed adds vertical structure and bright color to rain gardens and wet prairie plantings while helping stabilize soil and filter runoff. Deer and rabbits tend to leave it alone, yet its seed heads and sturdy stems support wildlife well into winter, making it a cornerstone species for both function and seasonal interest.

Don’t think of mantises as strange, motionless hunters waiting to strike— our native Carolina mantis (Stagmomantis carolina) is far more than that! Smaller and more subtle than the imported species sold in garden centers, it plays a vital role in balancing insect life and supporting the backyard food web. With just a few habitat tweaks, you can welcome this overlooked friend into your garden and watch it quietly help keep nature in balance.

Neotibicen winnemanna is the Eastern Scissor-grinder Cicada, a large summer cicada more common in the southeastern and mid-Atlantic U.S. While it is not a dominant species in Chicago today, its close relatives thrive there. Its ecological role includes enriching soils, supporting food webs, and influencing tree growth through feeding and egg-laying. To support cicadas in the Chicago region, planting and maintaining native hardwood trees—especially oaks, hickories, and maples—is essential, since they provide the long-term root systems these insects rely on.

Halysidota harrisii (Harris’s Tussock Moth) is a native moth of eastern North America, including the Chicago region. Its ecological role is as a mid-level herbivore (feeding on hardwood trees) and as prey for birds, bats, parasitoid wasps, and flies. Its lifecycle follows the typical tussock moth pattern: egg → hairy larva → pupa in a cocoon → adult moth, with one generation per year in northern regions.

To support this species in Chicago, the best native host plants are oaks, hickories, walnuts, birches, willows, and elms. Planting these native trees, minimizing pesticide use, and maintaining natural leaf litter can help sustain not only H. harrisii but also a wide diversity of native moths, butterflies, and the wildlife that depend on them.

Astur cooperii is a versatile, mid-sized raptor that has become a symbol of how predators adapt to human-dominated landscapes. Ecologically, it plays a critical role in regulating bird populations, shaping prey behavior, and connecting predator–prey–pathogen dynamics. Its recovery and expansion into cities reflect both its adaptability and the importance of conservation measures that reduce toxins and preserve urban green space.

Photinus pyralis is the most familiar firefly in the U.S., famous for the “J-shaped” flight pattern of its flashing males at dusk in summer. It belongs to the family Lampyridae. Chicagoans see it most often in July evenings in fields, gardens, and edges.

Although beloved for its light displays, its ecological role goes deeper: the larvae are important nocturnal predators in soil and leaf litter ecosystems.

Neoscona crucifera (spotted orbweaver) is a large, colorful orb-weaving spider common throughout eastern and central North America, including the Chicago region. It is a member of the family Araneidae (orbweavers), known for constructing large, intricate circular webs. These spiders are nocturnal hunters and play a significant role in insect population control.

Unlike bees or butterflies, they do not rely on specific host plants, but their survival is tightly linked to habitat structure (places to anchor webs) and abundant insect prey.

Physocephala tibialis is a species of thick-headed fly in the family Conopidae. These flies are best known as endoparasitoids of bumble bees (genus Bombus), but they also visit flowers for nectar. Despite their parasitic nature, they are ecologically significant in shaping bee populations and maintaining balances within pollinator communities.

Halictus ligatus is a very common North American “sweat bee” (family Halictidae). It nests in the ground, often thrives in cities, and is primitively eusocial—small colonies with a queen and workers. As a broad floral generalist, it pollinates many native prairie/woodland forbs and also urban garden plants.

This Ailanthus Webworm Moth was spotted on Hood Street in late July, 2025. With its jewel-like orange-and-white wings, the Ailanthus Webworm Moth (Atteva aurea) looks like a tiny tropical import — and in a way, it is. Native to the Americas but newly abundant in Chicago thanks to its adoption of the invasive Tree-of-heaven, this day-flying moth is a vivid reminder that not all pretty pollinators are allies to native ecosystems

This Brown-belted Bumble Bee was photographed in early August on Hood Street, 2025. Here’s a detailed profile of Bombus griseocollis — the Brown-belted Bumble Bee — tailored to its ecology, lifecycle, and the best native plants to support it in the Chicago region.

We saw this Eastern Tiger Swallowtail hanging out on the Anise Hyssop (Agastache foeniculum) and the Yellow Giant Hyssop (Agastache nepetoides) for almost 10 minutes. Here’s a full profile of Papilio glaucus — the Eastern Tiger Swallowtail — with a focus on its ecological role, lifecycle, and the best native plants to support it in the Chicago region.

In the Chicago region, the Great Black Digger Wasp (Sphex pensylvanicus) serves dual ecological functions as a predatory regulator of orthopteran populations and as a generalist pollinator of mid- to late-summer flora. By provisioning its nests with paralyzed katydids and grasshoppers, it contributes to top-down control of herbivorous insect populations, while its frequent nectar foraging facilitates pollen transfer among a diverse assemblage of native plant species.

The common oblique syrphid fly (Allograpta obliqua) may be small, but it’s a powerhouse in the garden—pollinating blooms by day and raising larvae that devour aphids by the dozen. With its wasp-like stripes and graceful hover, this tiny ally is both beautiful and beneficial.

Photographed on Hood Street in Early August, Summer 2025. Here’s a detailed profile of Amphion floridensis—commonly called the Nessus sphinx moth.

A fast, bumble-bee-like native solitary bee that favors long, tubular flowers and—unusually for its genus—nests above ground in wood or pithy stems. Typically one generation per year, with adults most common mid-June through August in the North. Overwinters as prepupae.

Spotted tonight: a four-banded sand wasp tanking up on clustered mountain mint before its Chicago stink bug hunt.

Here’s a comprehensive overview of the genus Melanoplus, focusing on its ecology, life cycle, and how to support native populations through planting native host plants:

One of my favorite native flowers in the Garden. Here's a deep dive into Veronicastrum virginicum—commonly known as Culver’s root—covering its ecological value, the wildlife it supports, and step-by-step guidance for growing it from seed. These were planted as small seedlings from Prairie Moon Nursery in 2023 and 2024. I am going to try seed saving from them this fall for next year.

Bloom Time: June, July, August

Height: 5 feet

Sun Exposure: Full, Partial

Rabbit Proof Rating: 95%