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The tulips, along with topsoil and bales of hay, were donated by Patuxent Nursery.

The nursery also donated 250 pumpkins, one for each child, that were given to the children last month, Baudoin said.

The tulip-planting grew out of Baudoin’s motto for the school: ‘‘Where children bloom.” He originally approached Patuxent Nursery about donating 250 tulips, one for each child, and they agreed to donate more than 1,000.

The value of the donation is estimated at about $1,000 to $1,100.

Todd Colvin, annuals and perennials management intern for the nursery, said the company frequently donates to community groups. He and another employee visited the school and offered advice on how to tackle the tulip-planting project.

‘‘What we really donated was the knowledge, the assistance and advice on what would look best for them,” Colvin said.

On Oct. 30 the adults did a trial run, planting about 700 tulips, and the remaining 500 were planted by pupils and staff on Nov. 1. Each class took a turn, and one-by-one the children each placed their tulips into holes that had already been dug for them by school staff and parent volunteers.

‘‘The point of the lesson is that working together anything is possible,” Baudoin said.

First-grader Erica Morrisey, 6, said she enjoyed going outside during the school day.

‘‘It was really cool. I liked that I got to put my hands in the dirt,” she said.

Third-grader Jonathon Lamothe, 8, said he is looking forward to seeing the flowers.

‘‘It’ll make our school bloom and it’s for people to have a good sight of how children are blooming. It’s great to plant some plants in our area,” he said.

The school had been anxiously anticipating some moist ground so they could plant their tulip bulbs, and Baudoin said the late October drenching the area received was a ‘‘miracle” for them.

When the tulips bloom in the spring, they will form 30 rows of tiger stripes, in honor of the Tulip Grove Tigers. The flowers will alternate white, orange and black. The tulips will bloom annually for about four to five years, Baudoin said.

Baudoin said the process will also have an instructional element, allowing the children to learn about nature while monitoring their tulips.

Baudoin said the project could not have been successful without the ‘‘best parent support in Prince George’s county” that Tulip Grove boasts.

PTA President Carmie Naleski said the parents have enjoyed helping out at the school this year and appreciate the ‘‘family” atmosphere among pupils, staff and parents.

‘‘[Children] are going to remember this. They’re going to remember that their parents were out here planting tulips,” Naleski said.

Anita Colliere, whose son Trey is in kindergarten, helped to cover each tulip bulb with soil. She said it is important for children to be exposed to nature.

‘‘I love doing yard work, and I think it’s a great opportunity for us to give back to nature. This is a great opportunity for us,” Colliere said.

Although tulips will soon adorn the front lawn of Tulip Grove Elementary, Tulip Grove Drive was actually most likely named for tulip poplar trees

Pam Williams, Bowie’s assistant museums director, said a grove of tulip trees ran from the driveway of the Belair Mansion to Route 450 when Tulip Grove Drive was installed.

‘‘My assumption would be that Mr. [William] Levitt and his planters just simply spied that lane of tulip trees a tulip grove, if you will, and when they installed this street elected to call it Tulip Grove,” Williams said.

Levitt, who built 18 neighborhoods in Bowie, was known for his assembly-line style of homebuilding in the post World War II era.

Some of those same tulip poplar trees, which were planted in the 1760s, still exist today in many of the yards in the area around Tulip Grove Drive, Williams said.

E-mail Megan King at mking@gazette.net.