With milkweed angels and star-shaped gourds, sisters make a home-grown 'winter tree'

The winter tree that the Sisters of St. Francis of Assisi decorate in the lobby of their home shows more than their love of Christmas. It also shows their camaraderie, the skills of employees who work with them, and their devotion to the environment.

On the large artificial tree in Elizabeth Hall at the St. Francis Convent in St. Francis, all the ornaments are natural.

Angels made from corn husks have wings fashioned from dried milkweed pods; garlands are crafted from apples, hot peppers and Chinese lantern pods; delicate flowers are fashioned from the seed pods of silver dollar plants; and star-shaped gourds are painted a shimmering gold.

These decorations and more were grown in the large garden, the greenhouse or the orchard the sisters tend on their property.

Sister Mary Jerome Lacy, 86, who painted the underside of milkweed pods used to make the corn husk angels, was happy to be part of the array of talent working on this year's tree.

But, she added, her first attempt wasn’t exactly stellar.

“I came in one day to see if there was anything I could do to help. The first thing I did was to knock over a jar of white paint. I thought, ‘There goes my creative ability!’ But it was OK. Larry (Willkomm) gave me a larger brush, and then I could do it.

“And now when this angel flies into heaven, she will have the milkweed pod wings on her that I helped make!” she said.

She also helped harvest the seed pods from silver dollar plants used to make ornaments; last year, she helped “fluff up” the branches of the tree when it was first set up.

Sister Rosalynn Dzikonski, 90, worked on assembling the silver dollar ornaments, in which the delicate seedpods were glued together and the seedpod of a Chinese lantern was added to the middle.

“It took a long time and a lot of patience. I glued five seedpods together, and when we had enough of them we glued the lanterns in the center," she said. "I learned I had to have patience. If I pushed too hard, the seedpods broke. And if I pushed too hard they would also stick to the paper. Then I tried putting them on my hand (when gluing them, and they stuck to my hand.

“It was such a pleasure creating these. In the end, it was like having homemade cookies or bread. It was a real joy for me,” she said.

Turning fist-sized star gourds into ornaments was Sister Margaret Klotz's project.

“They had to be dried in the greenhouse. We had to wait two years. Then we scrubbed them with Brillo pads, and I had to use the point of a nail file to get in the corners,” said Klotz, 81. The gourds were later painted gold.

Honey sticks and weeping willow branches

Larry Willkomm, environment and transportation coordinator at the site, said other ornaments added to the tree were made from strawberry popcorn, dried hydrangeas, and “honey sticks” from the apiary on the property.

Weeping willow branches and corkscrew willow branches were turned into a tree topper. The corkscrew willow branches were painted red, the weeping willow branches white.

Willkomm said he started adding these kinds of ornaments to the tree four years ago, and until this year, he did much of the work himself.

“The sisters would come and fluff up the tree, but this is the first year the sisters were engaged to help make new ornaments,” he said. About 12 of the sisters participated in making the ornaments, and some helped hang them.

Planning for this year's tree started early in the year when Willkomm and Sister Helene Mertes ordered seeds for the plants through seed catalogs, with the decorations in mind. Sister Helene oversees the planting, tending and harvesting of the gardens.

After the plants were harvested, some had to be scrubbed, dried or bleached before they could be used. These tasks were done mainly by Willkomm, although some sisters helped. It takes about a year to cure the Chinese lanterns and gourds.

“The hydrangeas were put in diluted bleach water. They go from winter brown to white. The apples are very thinly sliced with a mandoline, and then put in lemon juice with salt to get and keep them white. Next they are put in the dehydrator,” he said.

The strawberry popcorn plants also required extra steps. The ears have to be hand pollinated while growing to fully develop. Once harvested, they're soaked so silks can be removed easily, and then the husks are peeled back, Willkomm said. When done, they form the shape of a star, with the red popcorn cob in the center.

Other ornaments also resemble stars.

“I like to point out that the star shape is easily found in nature," he said. "The star gourds grow in the shape of a star, the cores of the apples look like stars after they are cut, and the Chinese lanterns form the shape of a star when they are cut and then turned inside out.”

Some are easier to work with than others.

“The apple garland is a nightmare. When we try to string them, they tangle,” he said.

Hanging the ornaments required different techniques. Some pieces were nestled into the tree, while others were attached with toothpicks or skewers, Willkomm said.

“The best part of using an artificial tree is that you can manipulate the branches to hold them in place,” he said, but some of the ornaments, like the honey sticks, are hung with traditional hangers.

Some are placed in front of the tree lights for the most impact.

“We try to find a place where there is light to put the silver dollar plant ornaments because they are translucent. If you place them in front of a light, it shines through. The light shines through the bleached hydrangeas, too. The bleach water makes them more translucent," he said.

Some ornaments can be used from year to year, but others can't because they are fragile.

“The star gourds I used in previous years, and the red peppers, they’re from last year, and they fared pretty well. I lay them flat with tissue paper between them” to store them, he said.

The decorated tree, which is about 12 feet tall and stands on a large table, can be seen from anywhere in the area residents call Town Square, Willkomm said. It will stay up for the sisters and their family members and other guests to enjoy until about mid-February.

That's partly why the sisters call it a winter tree, rather than a Christmas tree. Also, the tree went up before Advent started, and its ornaments were grown in summer. "Winter tree" highlights the idea that they carry on newfound life in winter, Marian Doyle, the sisters' communication manager, said in an email.

Close to Christmas, the area around the tree will be filled with red and white poinsettias. Those plants will later be transferred to the chapel and set throughout Town Square for seasonal gatherings.

Although the tree takes work, Willkomm said it’s wonderful to see how much the sisters enjoy it.

“It tickles me when they will sit in those big easy chairs here and have their coffee. They gather in Town Square, and they ohh and ahh. It fills my tank when I see them enjoying it,” he said.

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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Home-grown, homemade ornaments on St. Francis convent 'winter tree'