The Best Christmas Trees & Decorations for Houston

Most families that celebrate Christmas fall into two categories; artificial tree families and “real-tree-or-bust” families. There are pros and cons to both, but let’s be honest here, it’s hard to beat the smell of the real thing. If nothing but the real thing will do, here are the absolute best tree varieties for your Houston home–all of which you can find here at Plants for All Seasons! Plus, we’ve included a handy guide of some of the most of-the-moment decorating trends to inspire you once you’ve hauled your tree home.

The Best Christmas Tree Varieties in Houston

Unsure of which kind of tree to purchase? These are our favorite fresh-cut Christmas trees available at Plants for All Seasons, and what makes them great:

• Noble Fir: This long-lasting evergreen has a pleasant aroma and short, attractive needles. Dense, compact, and sturdy, the Noble Fir is excellent for smaller spaces. While the boughs may be a little on the shorter side, they’re tough enough to hold the heaviest of ornaments!

• Grand Fir: This show-stopping evergreen has a super-powerful scent that will instantly transport you through memories of past holidays. It has incredible needle retention, isn’t too prickly, and is thick and lush with moderate branch strength.  

• Frasier Fir: Frasier firs have often been called the “Cadillac of Christmas trees” because of their great needle retention, dense texture, sturdy branches, and excellent fragrance. The needles are a little softer than similar firs, so they’re great if you have kids and want to avoid them getting poked while decorating. 
• Douglas Fir: Perhaps the most popular variety, this sweetly-scented tree has soft, glossy, blue-green needles and is super budget-friendly. The branches are a bit delicate, though, so they aren’t going to be able to hold up heavy ornaments. However, what they lack in sturdiness, they make up for in their excellent needle retention.
• Nordmann Fir: This dramatic tree is plump and bushy in appearance, with great needle hold and rich emerald color. It isn’t highly scented, so it’s good for homes of folks with allergies.

Caring for Your Christmas Tree

Wanna put up a real evergreen tree this year to fill your home with that amazing wintergreen scent but aren’t quite sure if you can handle the care requirements? Watch this simple tutorial so you can enjoy an authentic Christmas tree without ending up with a pile of brown needles stuck in the carpet. 

Tree Decorating Trends

By strategically picking out your ball ornaments, garlands, ribbons, and tree topper to fit a chosen color palette or theme, you can pull together a knockout design that looks straight off the pages of a magazine. This method will make everything look coordinated and elegant while still leaving some room to hang your treasured *NSYNC Christmas 1998 ornament.

What are the Christmas Colors for 2020?

There always seems to be a cool new color palette that’s trending each year around the holidays. 2019 was all about rose gold, 2018 was the year of all things cranberry, and this year for 2020, we’re noticing one distinct color palette that’s the perfect balance of classic and modern: gold and cream!

This milk-and-honey inspired palette has strong influences from the mid-century modern decor movement, which has had a huge resurgence in 2020. Gold has that opulent, warm tone that’s effortlessly elegant, and when it’s paired with cream, it feels softer and more welcoming—never gaudy or over the top. Look for simple ornaments and ribbons with a minimalist aesthetic, and keep the sparkle to a minimum—it looks better when you use an assortment of decorations in the same colors but with different finishes like matte, gloss, glitter, and pearl. 

5 Christmas Decorating Styles for your Holiday Tree

If you want to go beyond a basic color scheme and want to create a whole themed display, take a look at our favorite trending styles for Christmas tree decorating in Houston! Don’t forget to bump some solid gold holiday tunes while you go about your Christmas decorating. An absolutely real, not-made-up scientific study shows that listening to holiday music while decorating your tree increases levels of Christmas cheer by 300%.   

Holiday Citrus

So many delicious citrus fruits are in season during the winter, and there are plenty of ways you can integrate them into your holiday decor! Dried slices of orange look so beautiful when they’re strung along with some twine into a fresh-smelling garland or strung up with individual hooks. Blood oranges are particularly beautiful with their rich red centers. 

To complement the cute, natural look of fresh fruit, add some accents like pinecones, berries, and bundles of fragrant cinnamon wrapped together with ribbon. Hang lights, ribbons, and Christmas balls in juicy shades of red, orange, yellow, or gold to match the citrus-inspired color palette. 

Peppermint Twist

Red and white are classic Christmas colors, so by sticking to that color combination and adding in plenty of swirly red and white ornaments that look like peppermint twists, your tree will reach a whole new level of cuteness. Try to find a few different styles in assorted shapes with the same swirled motif to bring some variety and detail. 

For a tree topper, try making a DIY display with curls of red and white ribbons, pom poms, candy canes, or other fancy flourishes that fit the theme. Browse through Instagram or Pinterest boards for some design inspiration, and then let your creativity shine! 

Vintage Christmas

One of the best parts of Christmas is indulging in some straight-up nostalgia, served warm. While you’re rewatching Home Alone for the 300th time and reminiscing on memorable Christmases past, you’ll love the ambiance of a vintage-inspired tree full of antique ornaments and old-timey designs. 

Visit an antique store to see what kind of ornament sets they have, or buy a new set with a retro design aesthetic. Look for cute toy ornaments like spinning wooden tops, rocking horses, vintage cars, and carousels. Ornaments and little signs printed with retro lettering make great accent pieces too. The final challenge will be finding the cutest little antique angel to sparkle at the top of the tree! 

Dreamy Florals

Don’t get us wrong, there’s plenty to love about winter, but if you find yourself missing the massive array of flowers that populate your garden during the warmer months, you might enjoy adorning your Christmas tree in bundles of silk flowers! Many silk flowers have bendable wire stems, so they’re actually quite easy to twist around your tree’s branches. 

Poinsettias bring the classic holiday vibe, but if you want to try something different, don’t be afraid to experiment with colors typically reserved for spring! Silk peonies and roses in muted, powdery pink shades have a soft, romantic look that pairs beautifully with silver and pearlescent glass ornaments. Add in some wispy white ostrich feathers for a luxurious, feminine look that feels very Parisian. 

Feliz Navidad 

For a south-of-the-border inspired tree that brightens your home with a burst of festive color, opt for Mexican-style lights and ornaments that bring the fiesta vibes! Go as ultra-vibrant as possible, with saturated pigments from all across the color spectrum: magenta, gold, emerald, sunset orange, and red-hot-chili-pepper red.

See if you can find a set of string lights that look like little chili peppers, ornaments painted in the classic Talavera style, and other accents like cacti, sugar skulls, cervezas, and margarita glasses, embroidered fabric ornaments, and ribbons. Top it off with a giant sombrero!

For all your holiday decorating needs, from Christmas trees to fresh evergreen garlands and wreaths, plus all the beautiful, shiny ornaments you could ever need, Plants for All Seasons is the place to be! Visit us at the shop to see our full collection. Happy Holidays!