Florida-Grown Christmas Trees: How to Find Farms in the Tampa Bay Area

TALLAHASSEE, FL — It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas at the Florida Capitol. That’s largely thanks to Dade City’s Ergle Christmas Tree Farm, which provided four Carolina Sapphire Christmas trees for display on the Capitol’s plaza level.

The unveiling of the trees took place Tuesday, Dec. 6 with a number of state bigwigs in attendance, including Gov. Rick Scott and Attorney General Pam Bondi. Tony and Debbie Harris, owners of Ergle’s, were also on hand. Debbie’s father was responsible for planting the very first trees on the Dade City farm 34 years ago, according to Commissioner of Agriculture Adam Putnam. Today, the farm raises not only those Carolina Sapphire trees, but also Florida Cedar, Leyland Cypress and Florida Sand Pines.

The Ergle farm isn’t the only one in the state to offer Florida-grown trees in time of the holidays, Putnam said. There are more than 100 farms across Florida that provide this option. The Florida Christmas Tree Association provides a listing of its members’ farms across the state. The Tampa Bay area and surrounding counties happen to be home to a few.

To look up member farm locations, visit the association’s website. Not all farms are members of the association, which means they might not be on the list.

To learn more about Ergle's, visit it online.

Know about other farms in the area? Be sure to let others know by commenting below!

Photo courtesy of Adam Putnam’s Twitter feed