Linwood Arboretum

05/28/2026

Ken is a Linwood boy

05/27/2026

TBT Memorial Day - Citizen of the year 2013. Allen Lacy🌳

05/26/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/18uCujgsBz/?mibextid=wwXIfr

Caterpillar availability in the eastern canopy peaks this week. The timing is not coincidence. Every nesting bird that feeds chicks is running the same supply chain.

The peak of caterpillar biomass in the oak canopy coincides almost exactly with the peak of nestling demand. Both events are triggered by the same cue — photoperiod and temperature — ensuring that the food is available when the chicks need it most.

The numbers: 🌿

A chickadee clutch of six requires roughly fifty thousand caterpillars in sixteen days.
A warbler clutch of four requires roughly nine thousand caterpillars.
A robin brood requires a combination of caterpillars and earthworms — over a hundred feeding trips daily.

The caterpillars are on native trees. Oak alone supports over five hundred caterpillar species. Cherry supports over four hundred. Willow supports over four hundred. A Bradford pear supports fewer than five.

If the tree in the yard is non-native, it produces almost no caterpillars. The birds nesting in or near that tree must fly farther to find food — burning more energy per trip, delivering less per chick, fledging lighter young with lower survival.

🐾 What this means right now:

- The caterpillars on the oak leaves are the food pipeline for every nesting bird on the block
- Spraying the oak for caterpillars removes the food supply that dozens of species depend on during peak demand
- The defoliation from caterpillars is temporary — healthy oaks releaf within weeks
- One native oak produces more nestling food than every ornamental on the block combined

The caterpillars peak this week. The chicks need them this week. The schedule is not a coincidence. It's co-evolution.

05/22/2026

https://www.facebook.com/share/1F2eReK7vA/?mibextid=wwXIfr

A neighborhood full of trees and no songbirds often has the wrong trees.

Native oaks, cherries, willows, and birches host caterpillars in numbers that ornamental trees can't match. Nearly all backyard songbirds feed their chicks on caterpillars during nesting season — regardless of what the adults eat the rest of the year.

A single mature native oak in a yard can host more caterpillar species than every ornamental on the block combined. The caterpillars don't harm healthy trees — the herbivory is part of the system.

🌿 What the food chain needs:

- At least one native canopy tree — oak, cherry, willow, birch, or maple
- Understory native shrubs that host additional species
- No broad-spectrum pesticide on the canopy during nesting season
- Patience — a newly planted native tree takes a few years to build its caterpillar community

The trees look the same from the street. The food web underneath them is completely different 🌿

05/15/2026

A walk through our garden this evening

05/11/2026

Thanks Joe Olden and his crew from Linwood Public Works for putting down our mulch this year. Be sure to stop by and see what’s blooming 🌺🥀🌼

05/04/2026

I was honored to meet this gentleman 💔

05/03/2026

04/25/2026

We would like to invite everyone to our first educational event of the year. It will be held at the Linwood Arboretum on May 3rd, at 2:00. Hope to see you there.

04/10/2026

Hello Friends , Fellow Gardeners and Nature Enthusiasts,
Happy Spring! We hope you are enjoying the warmer weather, and are anxious to get outside. Our Linwood Arboretum is starting to show its magnificent spring colors, waiting for all to stop by for a stroll.
At this time of year, we like to request our annual membership (see form below). We are excited to see familiar faces, along with meeting new members! The Friends of the Linwood Arboretum are a group of volunteers who maintain the beautiful garden for all to enjoy.
As always, thank you in advance for your continued support.
Appreciatively,
George Butrus - Curator