Proceeds from sales will benefit the volunteer program.
Collecting native seeds is fun!
The Lake County Seed Collection Guide is an illustrated guide for seed collectors throughout the Chicago region. The book provides color photographs and descriptions of nearly 600 species of plants in seed, organized by season, habitat and growth form. The guide was designed and written for anyone to pick up and enjoy.
Kelly Schultz, stewardship ecologist for Lake County Forest Preserve District (LCFPD), has spent 17 years professionally collecting seeds, running greenhouses and working with volunteers. While managing the LCFPD Native Seed Nursery at Rollins Savanna (Grayslake), Kelly was snapping cell phone images to share with volunteers and writing descriptions, but creating a comprehensive guide was always a dream. Then volunteer Dale Shields started donating his time at the Native Seed Nursery. He had been an active restoration volunteer since 1989 at Poplar Creek and Deer Grove in Cook County, and Liberty Prairie in Lake County. Dale wanted to use his talents to help fellow volunteers learn more, so he began taking exquisite images of seedlings and seeds at the Nursery.
Dale’s photographs show how beautiful, weird and interesting seeds can be, all while highlighting the identifying characteristics. The captions are created from Kelly’s experience in collecting seed, propagating natives and playing with accurate (but not-so-technical) terms to communicate with volunteers of all skill-levels.
These guides have already helped many volunteers collect native seeds. We hope they inspire you too!
Produced by Kelly Schultz & Dale Shields
Photography by Dale Shields