When I was a kid in northern Ohio, we always got live Christmas trees. After Christmas, we planted them along the edge of the driveway. I don't remember any of them dying. Most got to be huge. I now wish I could remember how long they were inside. Sadly, they bulldozed my whole house, yard, garage, and all the trees to build a senior complex. This year, in NC, we are using the same evergreen (but not a traditional Christmas tree type) that we used last year. It spent most of the year outside on the deck thriving.