Wildflowers
Native Plants and Wildflowers in Miller Beach
Indiana Dunes National Park is the United States’ 4th most bio-diverse national park!
Gary’s Miller Beach is a great place to see rare dunes flora. Here, botanists and plant lovers can discover over 1,100 native flowering plant species and ferns.
Miller Woods is part of the Indiana Dunes National Park and known for the prolific spring blooms of thousands of lupines and other native wildflowers in April and May. These magnificent blooms are clearly visible when hiking on the Paul H Douglas Trail.
Nature lovers can spot many other hard-to-find plants while hiking in the unique dune and swale ecosystems, wetlands, and oak savannas on trails in the Miller Beach neighborhood.
Plan your day trip to Miller Woods with this article from the South Shore CVA.
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August blooming sunflowers with Monarch butterfly, by the Calumet Lagoon. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Chanute Trail summer native blooming. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Sniff this Common Milkweed (Asclepias Syriaca), it has a heavenly fragrance. Summer blooming cluster along the Calumet Lagoon, Marquette Park. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Monarda fistulosa, Wild Bergamot, summer blooming in Marquette Park. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Another native monarda, commonly called horsemint, gives us a pretty summer show. Photo by Peggy Vanhala
Bloodroot is a spring bloomer in Miller Woods, seen from the Miller Woods Trail. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
The brilliant rust of native grasses in early winter, at sundown on the Marquette Trail. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Spent wildflowers add interest and texture to the dunes, even in the winter. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Miller Woods wetland growth is frozen with views of blue below the surface ice, Miller Woods Trail. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Early October brings a brilliant display of blue gentian on the Chanute Trail. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
View of Miller Woods wetlands from the Boardwalkl Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Little blue stem in late fall with it’s cottony bloom heads, lining a beach path in Marquette Park, with Lake Michigan in sight. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Common Blue Violet (Viola sororia), May blooming, Marquette Park. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Oak savanna, dune and swale in Miller Woods. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Cluster of wildflowers blooming in June on the Marquette Loop Trail. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Fall scene of shining sumac in Indiana Dunes National Park on the Marquette Trail. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Eastern daisy fleabane (Erigeron annuus) show their sunny dispositions in the summer. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Wetlands/Seasonal Pond, Paul H. Douglas Trail behind the Douglas Nature Center. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Flowering spurge on the Marquette Trail.
Native prickly pear cactus in full summer bloom, Marquette Park, Gary, Indiana. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Native Rosepink blooms in late summer on the Chanute Trail in Marquette Park. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Wild Columbine blooms in May on the Paul H Douglas Trail.
Thousands of native lupines bloom every May right on the Paul H Douglas Trail. A luxury sight to witness.
Sunflower, native to Indiana Dunes, blooming in Marquette Park, late summer. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Native white snakeroot (Ageratina altissima) in full fall bloom on the Marquette Trail.
Lupines blooming in Miller Woods, near the Paul H Douglas Center in Indiana Dunes National Park.
Moss Stays green under the dune grass, even in winter!! Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Goldenrod bloom into the late fall, in Marquette Park. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Marram grass (Ammophila arenaria) in Marquette Park, Gary. Observe the blooms in late fall and early winter near the lakefront. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Tenacious Frost Aster Blooming in late October in the Marquette Beach parking lot! Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Dutchman’s Breeches (Dicentra cucullaria (L.) Bernh) bloom in April, in Miller Woods Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.
Hoary Puccoon, native wildflower, blooming early June in Miller Woods. Found throughout Marquette Park near the shore. Photo Credit: Peggy Vanhala.