On a ride through the Blue Ridge Mountains during November and December, you can discover the rapid transition from late Autumn to early Winter. Through a carpet of fallen reds, oranges, and golds, evergreen pines master the landscape. The cool, frost-covered mornings and crisp, clear air give way to ice and blankets of snow. It’s the kind of scene that beckons the refrains of holiday tunes to the mind and to the lips. And if your Blue Ridge Mountain adventure brings you close to Route 8 from the Blue Ridge Parkway, you will surely want to take a detour into Floyd, Virginia.
Floyd Virginia is a bastion for many unforgettable holiday traditions: beautiful scenes fit for Christmas cards, sweet memory-making at the local shops, music from all the town’s venues, and of course, the Christmas tree farms.
Folks living in Floyd can see that it’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas when Floyd-grown Christmas trees begin their annual journey to retail lots and garden centers throughout the region.
But not all the trees are destined to join their fellows on the trailers. At Sweet Providence Farm, trees are waiting for you to come and discover them!
Just imagine walking through frosty hills among thousands of firs, pines, and spruces. Each has its own delightful scent and uniquely beautiful color. Each carries its own distinctive style and arrangement of branches and needles. With each step, you come closer and closer to the only tree that will do to make your home the perfect winter wonderland.
Once you have found your perfect tree, the helpful farmhand workers will cut it down. While waiting, visitors are encouraged to browse the Sweet Providence Christmas store and warm up with a cup of hot chocolate or locally roasted coffee. Rosy-cheeked children, beaming with excitement, can also enjoy the delicious assortments of locally made artisan cookies and candy! Visitors may also have their picture taken with Sweet Providence’s cranberry red, 1950’s pickup truck!
When the visit is done, the shopping bags are heavy with holiday treasures, and tummies are filled with warm, sweet treats, visitors and their perfect trees can journey home where lights and baubles await their chance to complete the Christmas vision.
Sweet Providence Farm began with a family whose love for Christmas evolved into an experience that many others in the community have come to enjoy.
In 1999, just before the turn of the millennium, John Paul Houston and his wife, Rainey, bought the farm at 3313 Floyd Highway North, in Floyd. It was their dream to raise their kids on the land. They raised free-range chickens, turkeys, cattle, pumpkins, and hogs; eventually building a farm store and bakery on top of the hill next to the house.
(Above: John Paul Houston & John William Houston)
Long before the land was purchased, however, John Paul had worked for a local grocery store that also grew and sold Christmas trees. He had loved his job during those years. He especially admired and was inspired by the process of growing the trees.
Once the farm was successful and the family thriving, John Paul decided to reach back and re-experience what he’d loved so much about working with Christmas trees. With a hopeful hand, he planted his first seedlings. It takes eight to twelve years to grow an average-sized Christmas tree, so John Paul had to wait to see the fruits of his labor.
While the Houston children and the trees grew, John Paul and Rainey tried various forms of agriculture to give their young ones the chance to learn hands-on farming. They raised animals and sold pumpkins, but in the end, the trees would be what worked the best.
The fields that once held cattle are now filled with trees, and the building that was once the farm market is now home to the Sweet Providence Farm Christmas Store.
In 2011, the Houston’s eldest son, John William, wanted to work in the tree business full time; exploring its potential in the regional Christmas tree market. John William’s first step was to begin a father-son business partnership with his dad, John Paul. After three successful years of growth, John Paul felt the time was right to pass the business into the capable hands of his son.
John William Houston became the owner and manager of Sweet Providence Farm, and it remains a family business to this day. When sales are busy, visitors can still see much of the family, including John Paul and Rainey, working together.
John William and all the Houstons at Sweet Providence are always working to learn how to grow the best trees possible.
Native to the Southern Appalachian Mountains from southwest Virginia, through western North Carolina and into eastern Tennessee, the Fraser Fir is currently the most sought-after Christmas tree on the east coast. Even though it is now mostly seen on Christmas tree farms, one may still find wild Fraser Firs growing high and proud on many mountain tops with an elevation above five-thousand feet.
It’s said that the Fraser Fir is the Cadillac of Christmas trees. The dark green, full-limbed, conical-shaped evergreen with its strong branches, irresistible fragrance, and great needle retention has made this tree a Christmas favorite. It’s been chosen more than any other kind of Christmas tree to decorate the White House!
Sweet Providence Farm takes advantage of Floyd’s prime growth factors for this tree. The high elevation, temperature, and adequate rainfall allow the Fraser Fir to thrive. And though Sweet Providence may have not yet had the honor of supplying a Fraser Fir to the White House, it was chosen for the honor of supplying a twelve-foot Christmas tree to the Virginia Governor’s mansion in both 2013 and 2019, as well as supplying wreaths in 2017.
The mission of Sweet Providence Farm and its Christmas Store is excellence from start to finish. Whether it’s fun, charming, nostalgic, picturesque, or all the above, Sweet Providence is always adding new things to excite their Holiday customers. Last year, John William gave a festive coat of red paint to his grandfather’s 1951 Dodge pickup truck. The vehicle had been in the family for fifty years, starting as a firewood truck. When John William was young, he learned auto mechanics and restoration while working on the truck with his grandfather. This year, customers can look forward to a fully restored, hundred-and-twenty-year-old sleigh! There will also be a new line of locally made pottery, ornaments, candles, and other fine crafts for sale in the Christmas store.
For those whose travels may not bring them to Floyd, Sweet Providence Farm has a precut tree lot in Southwest Roanoke, and on busy weekends, the lot will have as many as a hundred and fifty trees on display! Located in the parking lot of Kohl’s department store on Franklin Road, the Sweet Providence tree lot is easy to find with its thirty-five-foot inflatable Frosty the Snowman welcoming customers in. This year, the lot will open Saturday, November 20, and will remain open every day of the week through Christmas.
For those wishing the full Sweet Providence experience, you can find them at 3313 Floyd Hwy N in Floyd, Virginia. You can also find them online at www.roanokechristmastrees.com.
Sweet Providence Christmas Tree Farm & Christmas Store
3313 Floyd Hwy N, Floyd, VA • John William Houston
SweetProvidenceFarm@gmail.com • 540-525-8444
www.Facebook.com/SweetProvidenceFarm