The color red has a variety of significant meanings to residents of the Greater Oxford area. The RedHawks of Miami University are an obvious favorite, and during baseball season so are the Cincinnati Reds.

But in recent years there has been a new explosion of the color red around Oxford, and it has taken the form not of baseball caps and football jerseys, but tulips. A program involving Talawanda School District students which began with hundreds of red tulips has blossomed into a community-wide program with thousands of the red flowers.

All are courtesy of “Plant the Promise,” a program with a simple premise.

“We place a high value on a healthy community,” said Amy Macechko, Talawanda health and wellness coordinator and a Plant the Promise organizer. “It’s our goal that every time a resident of the Greater Oxford area sees a red tulip, they know it’s our promise and our responsibility to keep our area healthy, safe and drug free. It’s a reminder and a symbol.”

The program began in 2008, Macechko said. “We planted tulips at the Talawanda schools and at six locations in the community. Every year it’s truly grown. This year we had over 200 volunteers to plant, and now it’s not just Talawanda students. It has truly expanded to engage the entire community.”

Plant the Promise organizers held a community-wide planting event on Oct. 20, kicking off Red Ribbon Week in Oxford, with volunteers traveling throughout Oxford.

Next year, the results are likely to be bright, beautiful and very, very red. According to Macechko, 4,000 tulip bulbs were planted at 49 locations.

“This year the City of Oxford is planting tulip bulbs at all of the ‘Welcome to Oxford’ signs,” she said. “I’m thrilled about that.”