If you're worried about how the drought in the Southeast may have effected your fresh Fraser Fir it hasn't. The below is from the Asheville, NC Citizen-Times. The original is here.

Drought no match for Christmas trees
by John Boyle, JBOYLE@CITIZEN-TIMES.COM
published November 26, 2007 12:15 am

PLUMTREE – No need to fret about your Christmas tree turning brown and dropping all its needles this year — those Fraser firs have a clever way of coping with drought.

“We don’t think the drought has hurt us too bad, and the reason is the Fraser fir only grows from about May 15 through July, and we think we had adequate rain during that period,” said James Pitts ... president of the N.C. Christmas Tree Association. “To be cautious about it, we ask people to keep plenty of water in the bowl and check it every day.”

Pitts and the state’s 1,600 or so other Christmas tree growers are in the midst of their most wonderful time of the year. The North Carolina Christmas tree industry is ranked second in the nation — behind Oregon — in the number of trees harvested and tops in dollar value, with about 5.5 million trees cut annually and $130 million in sales.

The Fraser fir, sometimes called the Cadillac of Christmas trees, is king, representing more than 90 percent of the trees grown. It grows best at elevations above 4,000 feet, so North Carolina’s high mountain counties are tops in production.

The extended drought did harm newly planted seedlings, but trees that will be harvested this year — usually in the 6- to 9-foot range — look great. Late October rains replenished the moisture in the trees before harvest started, said Jeff Owen, an N.C. State University extension forestry specialist who works with Christmas tree growers.

Owen says the late October temperature drop, which brought more than two weeks of frost-filled nights, will cause the trees to hold tight onto their needles.

Fraser firs are notorious for needle retention.

“I was at a trade show last January, and we had some trees that had been cut and left over from Christmas, and some wreaths from that time period, too,” said Avery County Cooperative Extension Service Director Jerry Moody. “They all looked great. These trees will hold needles really well.”

In Avery County alone, farmers will cut about 1.25 million trees this year, generating $26 million in sales, or about 70 percent of the county’s total farm income, Moody said.

Although Oregon produces more trees, North Carolina’s Fraser firs bring in more money and cover more of the country’s markets.

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