Howard Hughes Corp. and Blossoms of Hope To Plant 100 Trees

The Howard Hughes Corporation and Blossoms of Hope are joining forces to plant 100 pink-blossoming trees in Downtown Columbia. The first plantings of the trees will occur on Tuesday, Oct. 31 at 11 a.m. in the Merriweather District at the corner of Grantchester Way and Divided Sky Lane adjacent to the Two Merriweather office building.

The planting is intended to maximize and draw attention to the natural beauty of Downtown Columbia by lining the streets with flowering trees from the Merriweather District to the Lake Kittamaqundi Lakefront.

This year’s planting of 65 Native Dogwood and 35 Kwansan Cherry trees is the first initiative of a partnership between The Howard Hughes Corporation and Blossoms of Hope. The first blossoms are expected to bloom in the spring of 2018.

“Blossoms of Hope is extremely excited to work with The Howard Hughes Corporation in bringing pink to Columbia,” said Joe Barbera, Blossoms’ board chair. “Over the past 12 years, as part of our mission to help beautify Howard County, we have planted more than 2,000 cherry and dogwood trees including saplings from the original cherry trees in Washington, D.C. Bringing the trees to Columbia is a great way to help refresh downtown and the region in general.”

“In addition, the proceeds from the trees will help to benefit the Claudia Mayer/Tina Broccolino Cancer Resource Center and other local charities,” said Barbera. “Over the past 12 years, Blossoms has donated more than $325,000 to the center, Ellicott City flood victims and other local causes.”

The trees will be planted by Howard EcoWorks, a nonprofit with a mission to build a workforce to undertake environmental improvement projects in Howard County. It administers the Restoring the Environment and Developing Youth (READY) program that employs Howard County residents ages 16-26 to construct and maintain stormwater management projects, provide living wage jobs for young adults, and help Howard County meet its federally mandated storm water management obligations.

“Contributing to the natural beauty of Downtown Columbia while supporting local causes including support for cancer patients makes this tree planting especially meaningful,” said Greg Fitchitt, Senior Vice President for Development, The Howard Hughes Corporation.

“The Howard Hughes Corporation is committed to creating a vital Downtown Columbia, and that includes enhancing the ‘city in a garden’ environment that has distinguished Columbia since its beginnings,” Fitchitt added.

Over the next 20 years, The Howard Hughes Corporation has committed to planting 10,000 trees of various kinds throughout Columbia and elsewhere in Howard County.