Lots of new visitors are flitting around the Tyler Arboretum, near Media, Pa., from mid-summer to late fall, but these guests have wings. They're part of the wide assortment of butterflies attracted to the colorful and fragrant Butterfly River in Tyler's popular Stopford Family Meadow Maze exhibit.

The arboretum's new home where the butterflies roam and its amazing maze are attracting human visitors, too, Director Richard A. Colbert, AG '78, BE '86M, says. Both the maze and the river were created with plenty of help from University of Delaware alums.

W. Gary Smith, AG '78, a former UD associate professor of plant and soil sciences, was the landscape architect for the project. Erik Karlsson, AG '77, of LANDERS Design Group, prepared the technical drawings, and Shipley A. Allinson, AG '80, of W.D. Wells & Associates, supervised the installation of the plants. Other alums who work at Tyler, Gerry Laferriere, AG '85, director of grounds, and Kathy Palmer, AG '94, a member of the grounds crew, also have been involved with the maze and river.

Colbert says he came up with the idea for the maze when visiting another garden that had a simple display of plastic lawn chairs set up in the middle of a meadow. The thought was that the chairs would encourage visitors to walk through the meadow to view its wildflowers and grasses.

Colbert pictured the maze as something that would be "quite appropriate for our property...something that would be respectful of the institution's history and take advantage of our natural resources." He envisioned a project that also could further Tyler's mission as an educational center. "We could build the themes we want to teach into the design," he explains.

The resulting maze portrays the interrelationships of plants and animals. It also captured the interest of Jeff Stopford, a member of Tyler's board of directors, who, along with his family, funded the Meadow Maze.

Design teams worked on the project for about a year, and ground was broken for the landscaping portion in 1997. The maze, which officially opened the following year, is designed as a compass with concentric circles leading to its middle. There are 10 educational stations throughout, dedicated to such topics as bluebirds, brush piles and plants.

The Butterfly River establishes a strong graphic image within the maze and helps connect its various elements. It "flows" 400 feet and is a virtual magnet for butterflies, Colbert says. The river is planted with 2,000 plants from 20 different species.

In a unique symbiotic relationship, plants, flowers and butterflies depend on each other for survival, Colbert explains. Plants provide food and shelter to butterfly eggs, caterpillars and chrysalids; flowers provide food to adult butterflies; and butterflies pollinate flowers. The resulting teaching possibilities are many and varied.

With deer visiting at night to nibble at the plants and this summer's drought, the river didn't bloom quite as prolifically as Colbert had hoped. Still, with careful management, the plants survived and the river is awash with color.

This fall, there are plans to put a 12-foot fence around the entire Meadow Maze to protect it and the river.

The river has a bridge, where visitors can stand to observe the butterflies, and a "raptor roost," where birds of prey can rest.

The Tyler Arboretum is one of the oldest and largest in the Northeast. The 650-acre property has abundant plant life, well-marked trails, a greenhouse and the John C. Wister Education Center, named after the arboretum's first director.

The land was originally purchased from William Penn in 1681 by Thomas Minshall. The property remained in the Minshall/Painter/Tyler family until 1944, when it was bequeathed to the public as an arboretum.

For more information on the arboretum, the Meadow Maze or the Butterfly River, call (610) 566-5431.

-Beth Thomas