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Selection Available to Christmas Tree Buyers |
The top-selling
Christmas trees are Balsam fir, Douglas fir, Fraser fir, Noble
fir, Scotch pine, Virginia pine, and White pine, according to
the National Christmas Tree Association. Blue spruce and
Norway spruce also garner loyal followers. About 98 percent of
the $1.2 billion annual crop is cultivated on some 15,000
Christmas tree farms. Although Christmas trees grow in all 50
states, Oregon, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Michigan,
Washington, and Wisconsin harvest the most.
- Noble fir
grow in the Pacific Northwest. They have
soft, 1-inch needles, green with a hint of blue, and a sort
of a peppery fragrance. Outside their growing region, nobles
bring top dollar. Because farmers underestimated the demand
10 years ago, there's now a shortage. If you want a noble in
your living room, prepare to pay even more and consider
buying the first one you see.
- Fraser fir
tree farmers may laugh at us behind our
backs for our Christmas tree choices, but nobody laughs at
purchasers of Fraser firs. Folks love the way their
open-branch structures show off all those ornaments from
Mom. These trees smell great and retain their needles for
weeks. Fraser needles are soft, deep-green with silver
undersides, a bit shorter than the nobles', and gently taper
shorter toward the branch tips.
- Balsam fir
, a true fir, has flat 1/2- to 1-inch long
needles that occur singly. The needles are shiny dark green
on top and silvery white underneath. The attractive color,
good fragrance, and good needle retention make it very
popular. The stalwart of the New England farms, the balsam
fir looks like a slightly shaggy Fraser, but this
tree's big selling point is its sinus-clearing fragrance. So
strong, the boughs of trees are often used to scent
aromatic, decorative pillows.
- Concolor fir
, another true fir, has flattened,
blue-green needles about 1-1/2 inches long. It has nice
color and form, but needles tend to drop indoors. Concolor
fir is becoming very expensive because of its popularity as
a landscape tree.
- Douglas-fir
, not a true fir, has 3/4- to 1-1/2-inch
long needles that occur singly and are dark yellow-green or
blue-green. Needle retention is good and most trees have
good form, color, and density. The Doug fir has good needle
retention, piney scent, and branches that sweep out in all
directions.
- Scotch pine
, or Scots pine, is the most popular
Christmas tree in the United States. Winter color ranges
from yellow-green to blue-green and needle retention is
good. Form is more open than on non-pines, but sheared trees
can be very dense. Though a bargain, the tree's popularity
is starting to wane. For one thing, the Scotch isn't
beautiful. For another, its bright green needles are 1- to
3-inches long and stingingly sharp. After weeks in the
house, the dried needles turn even more aggressive. Don
gloves before de-decorating, or this porcupine will leave
you bloodied. On the plus side, Scotch pine needles cling to
the branches for several weeks, unlike some other
evergreens. Because pines tend to turn yellowish in the
fall, farmers often spray them with a kelly green colorant
to make them look more Christmassy. Inspect the needles on
interior branches for telltale flecks of colorant.
- Eastern white pine
is the friendly cousin of Scotch.
It has long needles, a broad growing range, and a low price
tag, with a crucial difference: Its needles are feathery
soft. Since it puts off almost no scent, it's a good choice
for people with allergies. The downside: Its branches are
strong enough to hold up lights and bows here and there but
too weak for heavy ornaments.
- Blue spruce
and Norway spruce are both grown
as Christmas trees in Wisconsin. Spruce needles occur
singly, are 1/2- to 1-inch long, and are stiffer than
Douglas-fir. Blue spruce usually has light blue or gray
needles and Norway spruce needles are darker green. Both
have good form, a pleasing odor, and dense foliage, but lose
their needles quickly in warm rooms. Both can be fairly
expensive. The bluish-green needles and long, splayed out
arms give the blue spruce a formal,
majestic look. Also called the Colorado blue spruce, this
tree takes 10 years to reach a sellable height, compared
with some pines and firs that can hit that mark in seven or
eight. This means the blues can be pricey in many parts of
the country. The lovely Norway spruce, the
tree of choice in Europe, cuts the most delicate profile of
all the evergreens; tall and thin, with 1/2-inch, dark-green
needles and pretty cinnamon-red branches. Big downside to
spruces: They're even more prickly than the pines. Make sure
to have plenty of vacuum bags on hand, especially if you
choose Norway, for all the needles that will surely drop.
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