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What initially looked like a bare stick stuck in a pot is now bearing leaves. This tulip poplar sapling has the potential to reach 120 feet in height with a 15-foot-wide trunk.
Subaru and the Arbor Day Foundation are working to repopulate the planet's trees by gifting saplings to Subaru customers. The sticker on the bucket explains that the tree will soon look more lively with buds and leaves.
What initially looked like a bare stick stuck in a pot is now bearing leaves. This tulip poplar sapling has the potential to reach 120 feet in height with a 15-foot-wide trunk.
Subaru and the Arbor Day Foundation are working to repopulate the planet's trees by gifting saplings to Subaru customers. The sticker on the bucket explains that the tree will soon look more lively with buds and leaves.
JANE POWELL | For HD Media
The tulip tree will begin bearing flowers each spring like the one pictured once it reaches about 15 years of age.
This year, in celebration of AprilƵs Arbor Day, Subaru and The Arbor Day Foundation gave away trees. I am not sure how I made the list, but I did.
I have driven a Subaru for several years; apparently, this year was my year to be gifted a tree. Yeah, a tree! Who says no to a tree?
I admit the first email came and went because I didnƵt really believe it was real. The second email caught my attention, and I began to trust that it was legit.
I had a list of several trees to choose from, but my delay in responding limited my options. The redbuds were gone, so I asked for a tulip tree.
It wasnƵt long before I was loading the tree into my car in the Dutch Miller parking lot. It came with a sticker telling me to be patient. The tree was still sleeping but would wake up soon.
It looked like a 3-foot stick stuck in a pot, but I had faith in the little twig. I gave the skinny stick a sunny spot on my upper deck, away from the deer and in a spot where I would remember to water it often.
Slowly, the little stick developed buds. With more sun and consistent watering, the buds became leaves. My skinny stick is awake, now growing, and beginning to look like a healthy, young sapling.
The tulip tree Ƶ or tulip poplar Ƶ is not a poplar tree. It is actually part of the magnolia family and can be found in Appalachia, as far north as some parts of Canada, and as far south as Florida.
Known as one of the largest hardwood trees in North America, the tulip tree can reach 120 feet in height and have a trunk 15 feet wide.
The tree gets its name from producing springtime flowers that resemble yellow tulips. If you look closely, you may notice the orange band around the outer part of the flower. These flowers contain nectar and feed pollinators. The flowers appear when the tree is approximately 15 years old.
The flowers can be a bit messy as they fall from the tree, but this is a popular tree for large landscapes. They should be planted away from the curbs or streets because they are sensitive to salt and could be damaged by the winter road treatments.
Ƶ this young tree continues to grow, I am pondering where it will live permanently. I seem to have a new idea every week. Once planted, it will grow quickly and soon become a very large tree, so I must get the placement right.
Congratulations to Dutch Miller Subaru and the Arbor Day Foundation for supporting the planting of trees. On that day in April when my friend and I stopped by to pick up the tree, it was an adventure.
From the small, skinny stick that ƵsleptƵ on my deck, to the young sapling that now has green leaves and shows promise of the grand tree it will become, I am grateful to be the one to give it a start. It may just be one tree, but that is how it starts. One tree at a time, and soon, the forest will be full.
Jane Powell is a longtime West Virginia University Extension Service master gardener through the Kanawha County chapter. She is a member of the Charleston Municipal Beautification Commission and the city Tree Board. She is also the communications director for a community foundation and a volunteer with several nonprofits. Find her blog, “Gardening in Pearls,” at . Contact her at janeellenpowell@aol.com.
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