37 million American families will include a Christmas tree in their
Christmas celebration this year.
decorating the tree
A tree is a exciting palette
to explore your personal decorating taste and continue or start family
traditions. Many families exchange and collect ornaments year to year.
Like someone's christmas stockings, ornaments can become very personal
expressions of Christmas.
The traditional that we now
see as the Christmas Tree, has a very ancient history. Thousands of years
ago Evergreens were honored and blessed as a symbol of the returning cycle
of spring planting and summer harvest. Not celebrating the strength of
the evergreen in the winter risked bountiful future harvests. Considered
a pagan custom, the honoring of the evergreen became illegal and families
began to move a tree into the house to secretly honor the evergreen, hence
our seasons fragrant and beautiful tradition has its "roots".
Selecting your tree - Fresh,
Artificial, Alternative Xmas Trees
The top selling fresh trees
in the US
On the Internet you can
order trees directly from Christmas Farms. In the US there are over 15,000
Growers of Christmas Trees. Select you favorite variety of tree and find
the freshest source available to have them directly send you a tree. While
going to select you own tree at a Christmas Tree lot or farm has wonderful
appeal and adventure of finding the just right tree, the web is an excellent
alternative.
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| Balsam fir |
Douglas-fir |
Fraser fir |
Noble fir |
Needles tend
to be shorter and curved
upward.
Dark-green appearance, long
lasting needles, and attractive form. It also retains its pleasing fragrance.
Nine to ten years in the field are required to produce a 6-7 foot tree. |
Needles are dark
green or blue green, 1 to 1 1/2 inches long,
soft to the touch and radiate
out in all directions from the branch.
They have a sweet fragrance
when crushed. |
Good needle retention,
dark blue-green color, pleasant scent uniformly pyramid-shaped tree with
strong branches that are turned slightly upward giving the tree a very
compact shape. |
Beautifully symmetrical
with needles over 1 inch long, bluish-green but appear silver. Stiff branches
and long
keep ability. Widely used
in the greenery business to make wreaths, door swags,
garland |
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| Scotch pine |
Virginia pine |
White Pine |
Blue Spruce |
Dark green foliage and stiff
branches which are well suited for decorating with both light and heavy
ornaments. Excellent
needle retention and resists
drying does not easily drop its needles. |
Long classic
Southern Christmas tree. branches are stout and woody. Foliage dense excellent
for trimming. Small to medium sized tree. |
White pine is considered
to be the largest pine
in the United States. Needle
retention is good to excellent. White pine has very little
aroma but can be good for
families with allergic reactions to aromatic species. |
Often used for
Christmas trees or as ornamentals, particularly in the
eastern United States and
Europe. It is the official state tree of
both Colorado and Utah. |
Artificial Trees may be your
chosen alternative. Once you buy one you many never ever have to think
about getting a tree every year again.
Vast array of artificial
trees on the market. Any size, shape, color is available. Here are a few
ideas and samples of trees to consider. We included a few practical or
unusual examples for your consideration.
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| Pre-lite Christmas Trees. The quickest way to have a beautiful decorated
tree. Very little assembly. Open the box and the quality artificial tree
is already hung with lights. 10 year warrantee |
Another Pre-Lite tree in classic white. A great gift for individuals
with no time or have difficulty decorating a tree. Nice gift for a charity
or children's home. |
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| The 1960's classic all Aluminum Christmas tree. Make sure you have
a color wheel for the full effect. |
Fiber optic Christmas Tree changes from white to yellow, to red, to
green. High tech and showy. |
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