The inaugural issue of "The Queen's Courier" in spring 1996 featured an article entitled "Secrets of the Kingdom." By this time it was clear that collectors greatly enjoyed the "secrets" carved into and found within the figurines. Noel encouraged Martin to emphasise the importance of secrets to the master carvers. This has become a source of delight for both collectors and the artists themselves who very much enjoy encrypting their pieces.

The flowers were to be a variation on the secrets theme. Instead of having hidden secrets, they were to have elaborate interior scenes. The original flower prototypes had butterflies inside, but it was decided that a distinct character that meandered throughout each should be introduced. Noel did the original sketches for the first ten open edition Harmony Garden box figurines and created the outline for the saga, and Lisa came up with the name Lord Byron as a play on "Ladybug" or "Ladybird" (the English equivalent). The story of Lord Byron was to involve romance and adventure, so naming the character after the famous romantic poet seemed appropriate. Martin loved the idea of intricate interiors and immediately set out to tackle this very complex project.

The first ten open edition box figurines in Lord Byron's Harmony Garden™ were introduced in January 1997. In addition, six limited edition single roses were released throughout the year, "The Sunflower" was a club exclusive redemption piece for 1997, and the 1997 limited edition "Rose Basket" featured Lord Byron golfing on the moon. However, after a few months, Martin realised that the pieces were too complex to cast and paint. Since this collection was amongst Martin's favourites, a solution had to be found.

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