The Twelve Days of Christmas

It was a perfect day to explore outside. The sun was shining and there wasn’t a single cloud obstructing the endless blue sky. I asked my dad to join me for a tour of The 12 Days of Christmas at Dallas Arboretum. Adorable father-daughter date, right?

This is the second year of The 12 Days of Christmas, which Southern Living named one of “The South’s Best Holiday Experiences.” My tour guide, Bailey (who was delightful), told me the exhibit is set for five years.

Gobs of schoolchildren milled about, pointing and smiling and singing along with the Christmas music that plays at each of the twelve gazebos. The enormous structures take eight weeks to build on site.

The three French hens were absolute show-stoppers. Day Three was one of my favorites. Just look at those feathers!

Most of the twelve gazebos move in some way or another, giving you multiple angles of the details. I wanted to give you the full affect of a gazebo so I shot a quick video of Day Four:

Six geese a-laying had a lovely winter scene, particularly hidden in this photo due to how reflective the glass is. The gazebos are actually quite tricky for an amateur such as myself to photograph!

My favorite gazebo has to be seven swans a-swimming, which is situated in the middle of fountains and shallow pools.

The icicles look so real, I felt chilly just looking at them! Quite an achievement considering it was about 62 degrees.

The swans also look incredibly real, each adorned with its own crown, as they “swim” around the icy fountain. 

Eight maids a-milking doesn’t have a rotating platform but instead the cows themselves move, swishing their tails rather sassily, which seemed to delight the kids around us.

The location of the eight is just brilliant: right next to a reflection pool and arch, which I’m told is a popular wedding spot.

Twelve drummers drumming is also not to be missed, for the structure itself is the most elaborate of them all. If you’re not craving a candy cane after looking at this gazebo, bah humbug! 

One big bonus to visiting the Dallas Arboretum in November is that you can enjoy both The 12 Days of Christmas and the Pumpkin Village.

Pumpkin Village

The Dallas Arboretum is nationally acclaimed for its exquisite Pumpkin Village, which opens each year in mid-September and closes the day before Thanksgiving, and for good reason: the exhibit delights with plenty of pumpkin buildings to explore. My favorite part was – you guessed it! – the horse-drawn carriage. I’m told the horses are hand-crafted out of corn husks and hay.

See more of the Dallas Arboretum Pumpkin Village:

And because you’re reading The Rose Table, I’m sure it won’t come as a surprise that I toured Dallas Arboretum’s rose garden too!

Rose Mary Haggar Rose GardenYou know how I feel about roses. I needed no convincing to gaily skip around the rose garden, stopping to smell everything in sight. The rose above happens to be Tiffany, a hybrid tea I’ve been searching for because, well, I’m a Tiffany gal myself. Texas may not be a picnic in August, but you’ve got to appreciate that we still have roses going strong in November!

See more photos of the rose garden:

A few other fun facts I learned today:

The Dallas Arboretum began as a woman’s private garden in the 1940s and was later sold to the city. Talk about garden goals! What a lovely legacy to leave behind. You can tour the DeGolyer house during much of the year but it’s currently closed while the Arboretum staff members deck the halls.

Lastly, Dallas Arboretum plans to open an edible garden in 2017. You know I’ll be all over that when it does!

A few more photos from around the Arboretum:

For more information and to purchase tickets to The 12 Days of Christmas at Dallas Arboretum, click here: http://bit.ly/1WZJaBc.

Happy holidays,

The Rose Table
@therosetable
fb.com/therosetable