The Christmas season truly has staying power in Maine, thanks to those neighbors whose leave their lights up all the time.

A more aesthetically pleasing phenomenon is seen in the form of live Christmas trees and other plants, which can also be enjoyed year-round.

Staff photographer Melanie Sochan window-shopped her way through several fine local nurseries/retailers and discovered a range of spirit-of-the-season options, the majority of them evergreen, as illustrated here.

                                                                               – Marketing Department, Portland Press Herald