Season 2 (Spring) Episode 8 (Greensboro Arboretum)

On Today’s episode of Adventures with Gary The Wood Sprite: Season 2, (Spring) episode 8 (Greensboro Arboretum). It’s April 27, 2026. We started at the Greensboro Arboretum in Greensboro, NC. From there we took the Greenway Trail (it’s the only one). This was my very first-time seeing a 23 foot tall windchime! Yay!

Arboretums are so incredibly special. Ah. My heart. They are not just the place you take your teenagers to get their prom pictures. No. they are so much more.  The word arboretum comes from the Latin word arbor for tree (remember Arbor Day – when you plant a tree?) They are similar to a botanical garden. Arboretums specialize in trees and shrubs (think woody) but a botanical garden has plants of all kinds. Here is a good way to think of arboretums: They are like zoos for trees. They have rare, unique and gorgeous trees that you typically won’t see in your neighbor’s backyard. 

This is also my first time in North Carolina! I breached the bored brown bounds of the Ohio border. (what begins with B?) Woo Hoo! Now my state count is up to 3.

The very first thing I noticed after passing though the gorgeous gateway is a warning sign about protective nesting birds. At the time I didn’t think too much of it. I took the time to read it in detail of course being a good wood sprite. As we were walking, I noticed an employee working on the garden, pulling weeds (yes by hand, it’s how a professional does it. Like we all have to). I complimented her garden and she proudly explained how she carefully designed each plant in the crevice garden. A crevice garden is a specialized, modern form of rock gardening that mimics natural, stratified rock formations by packing flat stones vertically or at an angle close together, with narrow, soil-filled gaps (crevices) in between.

The gardener and I heard the shrill cry of a red-shouldered hawk which abruptly cut our conversation. It was very loud and sounded upset. She told me that they were having problems with one particular area where a young mated pair of hawks were dive-bombing people. Hence the warning sign at the entrance. When I read the sign, I first thought: oh ok, the hawks are trying to grab and eat people’s little dogs. Our little chiweenie mix named Rainbow (see S1E3) is safe at home. Nope. They are slamming into people’s heads as a way of protecting their nest, especially during spring nesting season (March–May). The gardener said that both she and one of her coworkers - on separate occasions - were hit in the head by a hawk and knocked flat to the ground. Can you imagine how fast a bird has to go to knock an adult flat? The gardener said she got a concussion and had to take off 3 days of work to recover from the hawk attack. The employees tried to locate the exact position of the nest with a drone but were unable.  

While Red-TAILED hawks dive at high speeds to hunt prey, Red-SHOULDERED hawks are more aggressive in defending their territory, often attacking humans or pets. Red-TAILED hawks typically only attack if directly threatened. Here is a good way to remember: shoulder equal’s shove. Shoulders shove.

Given this, we circumvented the specific area and no harm done.

The lesson for today is this: if there is a sign saying to watch out for aggressive nesting birds: believe it. Watch your head.

In the photos I added a screen shot of what red shouldered hawks look like so you know. I wasn’t able to catch a pic of them in the air.

We also saw and heard much more safer birds including an Eastern Towhee. It got its name from its loud call, which sounds like "tow-hee hee hee" or "joree.”

(BTW I normally don’t interact with humans unless they are also nature nerds, I can kind of tell because they have a greenish blue aura).

On to the plants!

One of the best reasons to visit the southern states are the Magnolias. They are native to the region, thriving in warm, humid, and wet climates. Not so much in Ohio. There 300 species within the Magnolia genus. They had so many here!

The other wonderful thing about an arboretum is they have a little post in the ground in front of each tree with the name. I love that because it teaches you the Latin name. It’s like playing a guessing game. I see the tree, I guess the kind, I see the post and if I am right, I won! A+

There were also so many different and colorful flowers, too many to list. Some of my favorites were the collections of roses. They smelled soo good. Also the Jasmine smelled wonderful.

Other interesting finds: an artistic sculpture of two people made from railroad nails, a tunnel, a big blue vase, bridges, a sun dial and a huge trio of wind chimes standing 23 feet tall. We sat very still and quiet on the bench next to them and waited for the wind. We got lucky with a soft breeze and the deep sound of the wind chimes bounced around our innards. It was transcendent.

In one of the pictures, you can see me mid fall. I’m ok! But that proves my idea that male wood sprites like me don’t have gliding wings or any kind of wings (see S2E4). I am still hopeful to meet a female wood sprite with wings (fingers crossed, metaphorically. I don’t have hands). Someday!

Something to note about this arboretum, and hopefully all arboretums: it’s lacking in trash. Litter. Plastic crap of various shapes and sizes. Notice how there are no pictures of trash in this post? It’s because there was none. It was so surreal and it makes me appreciate all the hard-working nature nerds like the lovely gardener we met who keep the place so neat and tidy.

Have you ever been to an arboretum? Planted a tree? What’s your favorite tree?

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