Tulip Trees Take Root at Russell Street Elementary
A 30-year Arbor Day tradition continues, courtesy of the Littleton Country Gardeners and the Littleton Shade Tree Committee
On Monday afternoon, the blacktop at Russell Street Elementary School filled with the bright voices of children holding their very own tulip trees. For more than 30 years, the Littleton Country Gardeners have made this Arbor Day giveaway a fixture of the school calendar — and this year, in partnership with the Littleton Shade Tree Committee, they handed out 150 tulip saplings to 130 students and 20 staff members at the school, sending each child and several staff home with a living piece of their town. Leading the giveaway were Jeannie Kingsley, chair of the Littleton Country Gardeners Horticulture Committee, alongside club members Jenny Cook, Karyn Horlor, and Tracey Mackersie.
Russell Street Elementary students gather for the Arbor Day tree giveaway.
The tradition is simple but powerful: every Russell Street Elementary student receives a sapling, this year a bare-root tulip tree, a planting bag, and the encouragement to find a sunny spot — in their yard, a relative’s yard, or a corner of the neighborhood — where the sapling can grow into something they will know for life.
A day of preparation before the big day
The trees do not arrive ready to hand out. The day before the event, members of the Littleton Country Gardeners gathered — some at a kitchen table, others next to the pergola in the beautiful garden of Club President Lynn Warren — to unbox bundles of bare-root saplings, wrap the roots in damp towels to keep them moist, label each tree, and slip them into individual planting bags.
Volunteers assemble take-home kits at a member’s home the day before the event
Working next to the pergola in Club President Lynn Warren’s garden, the team wraps each seedling’s roots in a damp towel before bagging.
Volunteers worked in cheerful assembly lines, laughing over coffee while sorting hundreds of seedlings into kid-friendly take-home kits. By the end of the afternoon, every tree was tagged, bagged, and ready for its small caretaker. It is the kind of behind-the-scenes work that makes the next afternoon look effortless.
A partnership that has grown for decades
The Country Gardeners have led this Arbor Day tradition since the early 1990s, and the Littleton Shade Tree Committee has long been a vital partner — providing horticultural guidance, helping select tree species suited to the region, and ensuring that what gets planted will thrive in Littleton soils for generations. Together, the two groups have introduced thousands of children to the simple wonder of planting a tree that will outlive them.
The volunteer crew with a box of prepared saplings, ready for the next afternoon’s giveaway.
Why a tulip tree?
The tulip tree, Liriodendron tulipifera, is a magnificent native of the eastern United States. Despite its name, it is not a true tulip but a member of the magnolia family — prized for its tall, straight trunk, glossy four-lobed leaves, and the showy yellow-and-orange flowers it produces each spring. A mature tulip tree can reach 70 to 90 feet, providing decades of shade, wildlife habitat, and seasonal beauty. It is also a tree that rewards patience: the children walking home today may one day be telling their grandchildren about the sapling they once carried home from school in a bag. To learn more about the Tulip tree and it’s amazing features, visit this article.
A Russell Street Elementary student receives her tulip tree.
A small tree, a long view
Arbor Day is, at its heart, a holiday about the future. By placing a tree into the hand of every Russell Street Elementary student, the Littleton Country Gardeners and the Littleton Shade Tree Committee are doing more than greening up the town — they are inviting another generation to take their place as stewards of Littleton’s landscape. Thirty-plus years on, the tradition keeps blooming.
