If there's one thing I've wanted to tackle using LEGO, it's trees. A lot of simple designs out there are for standard deciduous trees or pine trees. One type of tree that I felt was underrepresented in sets was the humble willow. With the introduction of part 5264 (Plate, Round 1 x 1 with Clip on Bottom) earlier this year and the curved minifigure supports, I had all I heeded.

Going in, my goal for this design was too provide a nice, affordable nature display with a willow tree that could easily be incorporated into a display and provide a bunch of goodies on the side. I ended up settling on a park bench with the willow looming above with the second tree being a later addition. For figures, flora, and fauna, the model includes 2 minifigures, 1 baby, a squirrel, a bluebird, a purple butterfly, a ladybug, a beetle, and a hidden brown frog plus loads of small plants to fill up forests

Ideally, I would have used sand green for the leaves but there wasn't any available in the palate. Otherwise I would have preferred to use spring green instead of bright green with the lime leaves but it works.