White House tree by afagen
December is the month for public Christmas Trees to be lit and Christmas Tree exhibits. Dec. 3rd seems to be the date many of the decorated trees are lit. TheGardenLady thinks everybody can enjoy the lit trees whether you celebrate with decorated trees in your home or not. Traditionally called a Christmas tree, if it makes you happy, call the tree a Holiday Tree. Whatever you call it, the lit trees are so colorful and delightful on these cold, dark days of late fall and winter that they bring warmth and joy to the outdoors.
Of course, everyone knows of three of the most famous Christmas Trees: the National Christmas Tree outside the White House , the National Christmas Tree inside the White House and the tree at Rockefeller Center in Manhattan, NY said to be “the biggest, brightest, most famous Christmas tree on our planet”.
But there are so many more decorated trees throughout the US and other countries. This post will focus on just a few of the decorated Christmas trees that one can view in the US.
There is the National Holiday Tree that is decorated outside the Capitol Building in Washington, DC.
General Grant Tree in Kings Canyon National Park by MiguelVieira
There is the Nation’s Christmas Tree at the General Grant Tree in Kings Canyon National Park and the Nation’s Christmas Tree City in Sangor, CA , You can join the 86th Annual Trek to the Nation’s Christmas Tree, a giant sequoia tree, at 2:30pm on Sunday, December 11th, 2011. For more information check out this site.
Some other decorated trees that you can visit throughout the country.
One of my all time favorite trees is the Origami Holiday Tree at the American Museum on Natural History in Manhattan, NY. See here.
 NYC – AMNH: 2007 Origami Holiday Tree by wallyg
The Christmas Around the World and Holidays of Light exhibit at the Museum of Science + Industry in Chicago sounds fantastic. See here.
Longwood Gardens always has a wonderful Christmas display. If you want to be sure to see the display, this year admission to the Christmas display is by Timed Admission Ticket, with tickets purchased in advance for a specific date and time. Check out this.
At the Warther Museum in Dover, Delaware the Christmas Tree Festival has about 80 fully adorned Christmas trees, as well as pine wreaths and other decorations. For more information on the festival or the Warther home, contact Warther Museum at 330-343-7513. The museum is at 331 Karl Ave.
Wonderland of Trees. The 10th annual collection of Christmas trees decorated by businesses and organizations throughout Western NY with this year’s theme “Spirit of Christmas.†is scheduled through Jan. 7. 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. Tuesdays through Fridays and 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturdays. Admission is by a recommended donation of $3 for adults, $1 for children ages 5 to 12 to the Holland Land Office Museum 131 West Main St. Batavia, NY 14020 Sounds like a clever idea to encourage American businesses in these difficult economic times.
There is the Festival of Trees at Morven in Princeton, NJ Morven that had been the governor’s mansion in Princeton, NJ but is now a museum. The Festival runs till January 8th. See here.
I think that a fun travel idea for the holidays would be for the family to plan a trip going from state to state and visiting the different sites with decorated trees. It amazes me to see the versatility of design and creativity of each tree.
This list is incomplete, so I am hoping readers of TheGardenLady.org will let us know which Christmas tree festival you like the best.