Brightly colored live Christmas trees are a hit

SOUTHOLD, N.Y - Deck the halls with a colored Christmas tree.

"The purple is absolutely the most popular, followed by blue, the same blue that they use in the movie Frozen, pink is another popular one and, hey, we even have a gold tree now," said Ed Dart, the owner of Dart's Christmas Tree Farm. 

Dart's Christmas Tree Farm, said to be one of the oldest on the North Fork of Long Island, is branching out by spray-painting some of its trees for a striking look this season. 

"It's something new and different and outrageous," Dart said, "and, hey, why not?"

The colored trees get their effect by using an airless sprayer to coat the trees with non-toxic acrylic paint. The process takes anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes and the tree needs several hours to dry. 

The trendy trees go for about $50 more than the good old green ones. The ratio of traditional trees to colored trees sold is 10:1.

Dart said that the traditional green Christmas tree has nothing to worry about.

"I think it's always going to reign supreme in everybody's household forever," Dart said. "Colored trees are just something for a few people to try and it may be a passing craze just like bell-bottom jeans."

Adding extra color makes the season merry and bright. 

Dart's Christmas Tree Farm | 2355 Main Bayview Rd., Southold, N.Y. 11971 | dartschristmastreefarm.com