Only REAL Christmas Trees...

by Danny Summers

Seeing so many REAL Christmas Trees atop cars this week is a wonderful sight. By REAL of course I mean LIVE Christmas Trees. It is a tradition which began in the 1500's long before the automobile and is credited to German-American immigrants bringing the tradition to North America. You can read more of this story HERE. Allow me to finish the title for this message... "Only REAL Christmas Trees... deserve to be named."

This is an idea shared several years ago and has spread in more of our centers. Growing a live tree takes time – 6 to 12 years which makes it much more special than a mass-produced "live-like" (a.k.a. fake) one. The use of evergreens for decorating "the halls" also brings the wonderful scents we all remember during the holidays.

One Group Center who has shared their experience of naming their REAL Trees is White Oak Garden Center in Cincinnati. I asked Evan Webeler if they were still naming their trees. He said, "Yes, we are and cannot imagine ever not doing it. I had a girl pick out a tree tonight with her dad’s name Brian on it. She absolutely loved it and thought it was the coolest thing. The parents could not say no. Something they will probably always remember. We do regular names as well as every Christmas/Disney/cartoon/Harry Potter name we can think of."

Let's face it... live plants are special. Even as cut flowers add a wonderful treat to the senses, so does fresh cut trees and greens during this special time of year.

Does your Center have new ideas or a twist to this story? Share it this week in our GroupEs eList. And a special THANK YOU to White Oak Garden Center for sharing their ideas for "Only REAL Christmas Trees... deserve to be named!"

Thanks in advance for sharing!

Following the article above, a number of Group Centers shared their ideas for naming trees. Here's just two:

From Gail Vanik, Four Seasons Greenhouse and Nursery, Dolores, CO

Hi All,
Danny asked me to share what we’ve done with our tree naming for many years. We include a tag line/funny line after the name. The names are handwritten on decorative tags I get from Amazon and we frequently hear giggles coming from our tree area. In a year when everyone can use a little jocularity, it’s a fun way to change up the tree lot.
 
Some examples are:
Hi! My name is Elvis and I’ll “rock” your holidays!
Hi! My name is Tinsel and I love shiny things!
Hi! My name is Bing and I’m dreaming of a white Christmas with you!
Hi! My name is Burl and I’ll guarantee a holly, jolly Christmas!
Hi! My name is Virginia and YES there IS a Santa Claus!
Hi! My name is Blitzen and I’ll attack your holiday decorating for you this year!
Hi! My name is Lucy. The more you drink, the better I look!
Hi! My name is Charlie and this IS my good side!
Hi! My name is Sam. Stop looking at the rest and buy the best!
Hi! My name is Suzy and I’m single and ready to mingle!
Hi! My name is Lola and I’m looking for a good man to light up my life!
Hi! My name is Robbie and I can hear you so watch what you say about me.
Hi! My name is Chuck. You think I’m ugly, well you’re not looking so hot either!
Hi! My name is Linus and you probably don’t look so great naked either!
Hi! My name Joy and that’s what I’ll spread when you take me home!
 
Many of the lines are plays on Christmas Carols, or other holiday programs/traditions, etc. Unfortunately I don’t have them in a pdf to share- just 6 pages of single spaced handwritten ideas I’ve gathered over the years, but I’m happy to share if you contact me directly.

The tags are bright and good sized and the striped string is included. They can be found here:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07687QLRY/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

From Carol Thomas, Perennial Favorites, Hamilton, NJ

We name our trees with themes.

The "Victorian" Trees are named for Queen Victoria's children and
grandchildren.

The more expensive trees (Concolor, Mediterranean Silver Fir, and Blue Alpine Fir) are named for characters in Downton Abbey or books by Jane Austin.

The Fraser firs are named for characters in literature (Lord of the Rings, Dr. Suess, Harry Potter, Mother Goose, Beatrice Potter, other children's classics etc. Plus My Little Pony just because.)

The tabletops are named for dwarves (Snow White or Tolkein) and Hobbits.

We don't do anything fancy [for tags] - just lists from the internet and magic marker on the hangtag along with the price sticker.