Look for an Evergreen Day Date in the current year: December 19, 2024

Evegreens are plants whose foliage remains green and functional throughout the year, in contrast to deciduous plants, which lose their foliage completely as an adaptation to a cold or dry/wet season. Of course, evergreen trees also lose their leaves at some point, but never all at once. They replace their foliage gradually throughout the year; leaf longevity can vary from a few months to several decades depending on the plant species.

Many people primarily associate evergreens with conifers, but there are many other evergreen trees and plants belonging to over a dozen families. They are Arecaceae (palms), Aquifoliaceae (holly), Araucariaceae (kauri), Cupressaceae (cypress, juniper, sequoia), Cyatheaceae (scaly tree fern), Cycadaceae (queen sago), Fagaceae (live oak), Lauraceae (avocado, bay laurel, cassia, cinnamon), Magnoliaceae (southern magnolia), Myrtaceae (clove, guava, eucalyptus, myrtle), Oleaceae (olive, Shamel ash), Pinaceae (cedar, fir, hemlock, pine, spruce), Podocarpaceae (real yellowwood), and Taxaceae (yew).

Most tropical rainforest plants are evergreen because there is no dry or cold season in tropical rainforests. Areas with warm temperate climate conditions have more evergreen trees than areas with cool temperate climate conditions. Most evergreens growing in cool temperate climates are conifers because they can tolerate severe cold and lack of water and nutrients. By the way, it should be noted that, contrary to common misconception, not all coniferous plants are evergreen; five genera of conifers are deciduous: Larix (larches), Pseudolarix (golden larch), Glyptostrobus (Chinese swamp cypress), Metasequoia (dawn redwood), and Taxodium (bald cypress, pond cypress, and Montezuma cypress).

The history of Look for an Evergreen Day is murky, but most sources agree that the holiday was created by the Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA) back when it was known as the National Arborist Association, i.e. sometime before 2003. Founded in 1938, TCIA is a trade association representing 2,300 tree care firms and affiliated companies. The main goal of Look for an Evergreen Day is to appreciate evergreen trees in their full glory, outside of Christmas lights and ornaments.

Visiting a Christmas tree farm or market is one of many ways to celebrate Look for an Evergreen Day. If you have already picked a Christmas tree, prefer artificial trees or don’t celebrate Christmas, you can visit a local park of take a walk through your neighborhood and try to spot as many evergreen plants as possible. You can also read about different types of evergreen plants online, buy a potted evergreen, decorate your home with evergreen branches or make an evergreen wreath, go on a hike or have a picnic with your family under an evergreen tree if the weather allows, and spread the word about the holiday on social media with the hashtag #LookForAnEvergreenDay.