The Illinois Set
Three printable Illinois editions in one purchase — the twelve-month journal, the native plants reference and the stargazing guide — for less than the three cost apart.
- Three printable Illinois editions, in one checkout instead of three
- Twelve undated Illinois month pages to write the year down in
- The Illinois native plants reference, with bloom windows and zone timing
- The Illinois night sky guide — dark places and the year's meteor calendar
$29.00one-time$33.98 bought separately
Instant download · yours to keep, with no account and no renewal · full refund within 30 days
A look inside
What the Illinois pages actually look like
From the Illinois editions
Some of what is actually in the set
The Illinois Nature Journal
Each Illinois month page carries that month's reference side — the blooms, trees and butterflies Illinois actually has then. Names you will meet in it:
- Virginia Bluebells
- Bloodroot
- Pale Purple Coneflower
- Rattlesnake Master
- Compass Plant
- Prairie Blazing Star
- New England Aster
- White Oak
- Bur Oak
- Shagbark Hickory
- Sugar Maple
- Eastern Cottonwood
- Bald Cypress
- Monarch
- Eastern Tiger Swallowtail
- Black Swallowtail
- Great Spangled Fritillary
- Regal Fritillary
- Red Admiral
Native Plants of Illinois
65 native species are profiled for Illinois, chosen for hardiness zones 5a–7b. A dozen of them:
- Purple Coneflower
- Black-Eyed Susan
- Butterfly Weed
- Common Milkweed
- Swamp Milkweed
- Wild Bergamot
- New England Aster
- Aromatic Aster
- Showy Goldenrod
- Stiff Goldenrod
- Wild Columbine
- Cardinal Flower
The Night Sky over Illinois
Every dark-sky place the Illinois edition sends you to, and every meteor shower it tracks through the year:
- Middle Fork River Forest Preserve
- Shawnee National Forest
- Rural southern and west-central Illinois
- Quadrantids
- Lyrids
- Eta Aquariids
- Southern Delta Aquariids
- Perseids
- Draconids
- Orionids
- Southern Taurids
- Northern Taurids
- Leonids
- Geminids
- Ursids
How the Illinois year breaks down
Counted, not claimed
Across the twelve Illinois month pages the reference side draws on 7 wildflowers, 6 trees, 6 butterflies and 7 things coming into season locally.
Something in the Illinois list is in bloom from March through November, and June is the peak — 30 of the 65 species are flowering then.
20 of them are caterpillar host plants and 22 support specialist bees — the ones that do the most work in Illinois yards.
On the 2027 numbers the standout for Illinois is the Quadrantids — about 120 an hour at its peak with the moon only 18% lit, best after midnight into dawn.
The Geminids, by contrast, peak against a 100%-lit moon that year — the kind of night the guide tells you to skip rather than let you find out at 2am.
The calendar runs every major shower of the year — 12 of them — with the moon's brightness worked out for each peak, so Illinois knows which nights are worth the drive.
In the box
Exactly what you receive
| The Illinois Nature Journal | 15 pages — twelve month pages plus covers and how-to |
|---|---|
| Native Plants of Illinois | 10 pages — the species table, bloom windows and planting calendar |
| The Night Sky over Illinois | 8 pages — the meteor calendar, dark-sky places and seasonal targets |
| Pages in all | 33, across 3 Illinois files |
| What you save | $4.98 — $33.98 bought apart, $29.00 bought together |
| Format | PDF, laid out for both Letter and A4 |
| Delivery | An instant download link, plus a link you can re-open for 72 hours |
| Access | Yours to keep — no expiry, no account, no subscription |
| Refunds | Full refund within 30 days, no questions |
How it works
From checkout to the field
Buy it
Checkout takes a card and an email address — no account to create.
Open it straight away
The download link appears immediately and the Illinois files are yours to keep.
Use it through the year
Print the Illinois pages you want and take them outside; they are laid out with room to write on as the season moves.
The set, or the pieces
Both are honest ways to buy the Illinois editions
| One at a time | The Illinois Set | |
|---|---|---|
| What you get | Whichever single Illinois edition you pick | All three, together |
| Checkouts | One for each — there is no cart here | One, for the whole Illinois set |
| What it costs | $33.98 for the three apart | $29.00, saving $4.98 |
| If you only want one | Buy it on its own; every Illinois edition is sold separately | The set is only worth it if all of it is new to you |
Before you buy
Who this is for
Made for
- Someone starting from nothing who wants the Illinois basics in one go
- Gardeners in Illinois who also go out after dark
- Anyone giving the whole Illinois set rather than a single file
Not for
- Anyone who already owns one of the three Illinois editions in it — buy the rest singly instead
- Anyone who wants the Illinois Nature Year; that is the bigger book, sold on its own page
Everything here describes typical timing across Illinois, drawn from long-run records — weather, elevation and how close you are to water all move the real dates around. So the Illinois pages say "usually early May" and never "May 4th", which is not hedging but the most the data can honestly carry.
Questions
Before you decide
What exactly is in the Illinois set?
Three things, sold separately elsewhere on the site: The Illinois Nature Journal, Native Plants of Illinois and The Night Sky over Illinois. You get every file each of them contains.
What if I already own one of these Illinois editions?
Then buy the others on their own — the Illinois set only saves money if all of it is new to you, and we would rather say so than take $29.00 for a file you already have.
Is this cheaper than buying the Illinois editions one at a time?
Yes — $29.00 rather than $33.98, a saving of $4.98. There is no cart here, so buying them apart also means checking out 3 separate times.
Do the Illinois files arrive together?
They arrive as one download list on one page — 3 files in all for Illinois, each downloadable on its own, and the link re-opens for 72 hours.
How accurate is the timing for Illinois?
It describes typical timing across Illinois drawn from long-run records, and because weather, elevation and habitat move real Illinois dates around it says "usually early May" rather than "May 4th".
Is it worth paying when the Illinois pages here are free?
The free Illinois pages are the month you are in; these are the Illinois editions around them — planned before the year arrives, and printable, so you are not holding a screen in the garden.
Will it work for my part of Illinois, or just the big cities?
It is written at state resolution — Illinois as a whole, with regional notes where Illinois genuinely differs end to end, and nothing behind it is recorded finely enough to honestly promise more than that.
What format is the Illinois edition, and can I print it?
A PDF laid out for both Letter and A4, one page per sheet — printing it is the point, since the Illinois pages are made to be carried outside.
What if the Illinois set is not what I expected?
Email hello@birchcompass.com within 30 days for a full refund on the Illinois edition, and keep the files either way — asking for them back would be theatre.
Everything in this set is also sold on its own — The Illinois Nature Journal, Native Plants of Illinois and The Night Sky over Illinois — and the free Illinois pages cover this month either way.
The rest of the Illinois shelf
Also for Illinois
Illinois Nature Year 2027
Everything Birch Compass knows about a year of nature in one state — the book, the posters, the sky calendar, the…
$34.00
Illinois Nature Year 2027 + Journal
The complete Illinois Nature Year with the undated journal beside it: everything the site knows about the year, and…
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Birds of Illinois
The state's most-recorded birds, ranked from survey data, with when each is present through the year and a life list…
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