Festival of Trees

We have decorated a tree at the Gardner Museum's Festival of Trees! (Gardner, MA). The trees are on display until December 10! You can buy raffle tickets ($5 for 25 chances) and enter to win one of the beautifully decorated theme trees!


We decided to recreate the spirit of Frances Hodgson Burnett’s The Secret Garden. We decorated the tree with amaryllis blooms, antique keys, birds nests filled with eggs and items evocative of a secret garden. We chose to embellish the tree with the image of an Edwardian girl who represents Mary Lenox. Her face is at once the picture of innocence and mystery. Calligraphied on each of the images is a word that calls to mind the essence of the story…nest…robin…magic…secret…

We’ve placed a few of Mary’s Edwardian antiques into the branches. Look for her white and black shoe that is now transformed into a bird’s nest and her sun parasol that sits atop the tree. A moss covered garden statue of Dickon with his pet squirrel sits beneath the tree. We’ve included a copy of the book in the hope that you will be inspired by our tree to revisit this childhood classic.

We dedicate this Secret Garden tree to our grandparents, Frances and Molly Murphy. Our childhood was blessed by growing up across the street from them. They lived in a house that was yellow like sunshine. In the springtime their front lawn was a carpet of violets, and under the privet hedge, there bloomed rows of daffodils. They encouraged us to be creative and to use our imaginations and they taught up to see the world was filled with love and magic!