Tyler Arboretum
515 Painter Rd.
Media, PA 19063-4424
(610) 566-9134 • ext. 215 for School Groups
www.tylerarboretum.org

Adjacent to Ridley Creek State Park, the 650-acre Tyler Arboretum is one of the most beautiful places around, and one of our important natural resources. It was bequeathed to the public by Laura Tyler in 1994. She was directly descended from original property owner, Thomas Minshall.

Tyler's sprawling acreage contains fields and forests that serve as habitat for a wide variety of plants and wildlife. Twenty miles of marked trails wind through 450 acres of uncultivated, natural field and forest, perfect for hikers, naturalists and birders.

Laid out in a natural setting, Tyler's mature plant collection includes the Painter Trees, several of which are state champions, and an 85-acre Pinetum featuring pines, spruces, hemlocks, firs, cedars, false cypresses, and larches. Visitors will enjoy fine plantings of rhododendron, flowering cherry, crabapple, holly, magnolia, and lilac. The Native Woodland Walk features all the distinctive components of the native woodland community, including the canopy trees, the understory trees, the shrub layer, and the wildflowers, ferns and mosses of the ground layer.

The Specialty Gardens are truly something to behold. They include a Fragrant Garden, Butterfly Garden, and Pink Hill, a barren of serpentine stone on which grow endemic wildflowers. The Bird Garden, designed to be able to be copied by home gardeners, attracts an enormous variety of birds throughout the seasons, including many species that nest at the Arboretum.

The Arboretum also features a greenhouse and presents museum exhibitions at two historic buildings, Lachford Hall and the Painter Library. The John C. Wister Education Center is the site of some of the many educational programs and workshops available to individuals and families throughout the year. Just about any topic related to horticulture, gardening, or the environment can be addressed at all levels of instruction. The Arboretum also features a number of special events, great for the entire family.

Numerous School Programs for grades Pre-K through 12 give students a chance to enjoy hands-on learning outdoors. The programs vary from year to year and cover a range of topics, including Birds, Bugs, White-Tailed Deer, Land of the Lenape, Butterflies, Life on a 19th Century Farmstead, and much more.

Many other programs are available. Each is a fun and interesting interactive approach to knowledge about the environment, horticulture, and natural science. Programs last from one to two hours. Call for further details.