Legion World Forums LEGION COMPANION The Anywhere Machine What kind of Christmas trees...

...do you usually get? Your favorite? I think I found a new one. I always, through growing up until last year, have gotten the Scotch Pine and now force my wife to also. You know, the kind that has short SHARP needles that all fall off as the season progressing making the biggest mess ever as you try to take the tree out of the house. We tried a new kind this year. It was difficult, trying anything new scares me, but we bought a White pine. Longer softer needles that stay on for the most part. Love it! Only thig is, ornaments do not hang from the end of the limbs very well. They are quite flimsy so you need to find a good strong branch to hang heavier ones. Anyone else have a must have tree? Merry Christmas to all by the way! (It's less than 3 weeks away!)

We're getting a punk tree this year. There's a virus that makes spruce trees grow all crooked with odd, dense clusters of needles and I found a perfectly imperfect one in a swamp today - but wait until the 24th to cut it.

Frazier fir

Fraser fir

freaky

Artificial. Never had a real tree in my entire life. I don't know what they are like. My mum was very forceful and vehement about saving money and she thought real trees were extravagant and a waste of money and now my parents are gone and I still put the artifical tree up. (not the same one we had when I was little! there's been a few over the years).

But now I am getting to feel a little wistful and I wonder what a real tree is like? I've never known anything different. Not much chance of me getting one though, as I would need boyfriend's co-operation. (I can't drive and I don't think I could carry one home on the bus!) but he hate hate hates Christmas with a passion bordering on mania so he won't help! (he doesn't like it that I put any decorations up at all!)

In the past I have read people's comments about how the smell of real trees reminds them of their childhoods and so on and that makes me sad because that is something I will never know. And all because my Mum was obsessed with bargains and penny pinching.

*sigh*.

I really should try and get a real one one year. Just to see what it's like.

I'm an artificial tree person all the way! I grew up with artificial trees because my mom is allergic to the real kind.

Later I had roommates who insisted on real trees. Not having grown up with it, I found the smell, mess and upkeep rather annoying. Ever since I've had my own place, I've had an artificial tree. I should also mention that I don't do plants in general. I've been known to kill cacti.

I'm also a firm believer in the tradition that Christmas decorations should stay up till January 6th. Most real trees are dried up by then.

Artificial, for me. I live in a forest, but I've never had a live Christmas tree.

Fake with lots of lights.
Got lights on the house, in the house and in the yard. Electric company loves me this month.

When I was a widdle kiddie, we had real trees. then one year my Dad bought an artificial tree. I STILL have that tree in my basement, 40 YEARS later! What a value for your buck.

Last year, however, I splurged and bought 2 WHITE PINES. But these aren't for the living room... they're GROWING in the back yard! How about that? In a run-down weed-infested neighborhood of a burnt-out city, I have 2 CHRISTMAS TREES in my back-yard-- YEAR-ROUND! YEE-HAH!!!

Just got rid of a plastic one that we've used for the past few years and replaced it with a fibre-optic one. Saves all that decorating malarky.

Um, i forgot the kind. It's kind of greyish green. They said it's from Michigan.

Blue spruce?

I saw "Christmas Vacation" for the upteenth time and I thought what sort of tree did Chevy Chase try to decorate in his living room - bits and pieces went flying everywhere...So, what is a traditional tree in the States, as far as using it for decoration around Christmas time?

Well, in Canada just about any evergreen tree can get used inside. The only one I can think of that isn't is cedar, but that's used outside a lot.

Arachne, I think it was a blue spruce! thx.

I heard on the news tonight that the blue spruce was the national tree of Canada. I've got to say I was surprised at that.

Me too. So what's the maple leaf doing on the flag?

Maybe we have a national leaf as well as a national tree?

I think the maple leaf is actually the floral emblem. If the Scots have the thistle and the Irish the shamrock, we can have a leaf as our flower. Canada has no official flower, though the tri-maple leaf appears on the shields of both Ontario and Quebec.

According to the Government the Maple Tree is the national Arboreal Emblem of Canada.

Proclamation of the Maple Tree as National Tree

This was only done in 1996.

My mom was allergic to the live trees too, but made the sacrifice now and then, so we'd get to experience a live tree. So growing up, we seemed to toggle back and forth between live and artifical tree, but there was one year my dad bought a little live tree. We kept it in a bucket in the back yard, growing for a few years until it was "ripe" and brought it into the house, bucket and all and decorated it in the living room. I added a pitcher of water, and the ants in the dirt filled bucket went everywhere! After that, we were pretty much an "artificial tree" household.

Now that I'm grown up-ish, my wife and I always buy a tree. There's nothing like it, the smell of the tree, the prickle of the needles... This year, our family has a Noble Fir.