Bushes have been reintroduced from New Leaf in 1.2.0, with all but sweet-olive bushes returning. In order of blooming dates, the following bushes have been added
Camellia bushes, in red or white, bloom January 1–March 31 (northern hemisphere) and June 16–September 30 (southern hemisphere)
Azalea bushes, in pink or white, bloom April 11–May 31 (northern hemisphere) and October 11–November 30 (southern hemisphere)
Hydrangea bushes, in blue or pink, bloom June 1–July 20 (northern hemisphere) and December 1–January 20 (southern hemisphere)
Hibiscus bushes, in red or yellow, bloom July 21–September 20 (northern hemisphere) and January 21–March 20 (southern hemisphere)
Tea-olive bushes, in orange or yellow, bloom September 21–October 31 (northern Hemisphere) and March 21–April 30 (southern hemisphere)
Holly bushes bloom November 1–December 31 (northern hemisphere) and May 1–June 15 (southern hemisphere)
Leif makes his return selling bushes, alongside non-native flowers. He also offers to buy any clumps of weeds that the player may have in their inventory for 100 Bells. Outside of Nature Day, he is the source of the DIY recipe for a hedge.
Redd returns to sell art as well as non-native furniture, now operating a ship called Jolly Redd's Treasure Trawler. His ship is docked at the small beach at the top of the island. Players can now ask Redd for closer examination of the artwork to check for authenticity. Redd will only appear after the player has donated 60 items to the museum.
Once a piece of art has been donated to the museum, Blathers will close the museum the next day for renovations in order to open the new art exhibit. The art exhibit lays out most of the Statues at the entrance of the exhibit, followed by Renaissance and Baroque paintings at the top of the exhibit, and more modern and Asian arts on the left.
Nature Day makes its return as a method to obtain additional Nook Miles. Tom Nook will offer bonus Nook Miles+ objectives for the player to achieve, and after completing the first Nature Day-related task a DIY recipe for a hedge.
Rover speaking to the player after completing May Day.
May Day is a new event that runs from May 1 to May 7, where the player must traverse through a maze utilizing much of the game mechanics of New Horizons. At the end of the maze, Rover will greet the player, and offer Rover's briefcase as an award. Bell vouchers are also dispersed throughout the maze.
This event is time-locked, and only unlocks on 1.2.xa.
Blathers telling the player about International Museum Day
International Museum Day is a new event that runs from May 18 to May 31. During the event, the player should explore around the museum across the bug, fish, and fossil exhibits for the location of stamp rallies. Once the player obtains all the stamps in one exhibit, Blathers will offer the respective plaque as an award to the player: bug plaque for the bug exhibit, fish plaque for the fish exhibit, and fossil plaque for the fossil exhibit.
This event is time-locked, and only unlocks on 1.2.xb.
Cyrus and Reese being taken a wedding photo by the player.
Wedding Season is a new event that runs through the entirety of June, and primarily takes place on Harv's Island. Reese and Cyrus asks the player to take a photoshoot using related wedding furniture, in exchange for heart crystals to be sold for Wedding Series.
After a few days, the player can invite their own villagers or special characters to participate in a makeshift party, and the player is rewarded from Harvey a recipe for a wedding fence and from Cyrus a recipe for a wedding wand. The player can continue to play in the event until the end of June, and Reese will challenge the player by using different wedding themes for their photo.
This event is time-locked, and only unlocks on 1.2.xc.
The menu option for seasonal items in Nook Shopping.
New to 1.2.0 is the introduction of seasonal items in Nook Shopping. These events are all time-locked and only unlock at their specified time-range. The following are events celebrated through this new service:
Wilbur now allows the player to send any items they have to their storage or be sold directly to Nook's Cranny. These options are only available past May 31, 2020 for usage in Wedding Season.
All bugs now have the same chance to spawn in each month in which they are set to appear. Prior to this update, certain bugs would have a higher or lower chance of spawning during particular months compared to the other months in which they appear. Specific bugs have had their individual spawn rates adjusted for gameplay balance:
Wisp's item gifts chances have changed. Prior to this update, whenever the player asks for "something new", Wisp would obtain an item in a price range of 0– 1,999 Bells. When asking for "something expensive", Wisp would obtain an item in a price range of 0– 14,999 Bells. In this update, the selling range has changed, and asking for "something expensive" will now result in Wisp pulling from two tables.
The savings interest rate has been lowered from 0.5% to 0.05%. All players will receive a letter informing them of the change, with a present containing a Bell-bag rug as an apology.
Outdoor stereos can now work independently of each other, instead of all sharing the same power state and playing the same music. As a result of this change, all outdoor stereos will be switched off when the update is installed.
The Brown/Gold simple panel variant before version 1.2.0.
The Brown/Gold simple panel variant's furniture icon was fixed; previously the Gold texture appears to have been broken.
An issue involving villager move-in was fixed, where originally a villager could move in from a friend's island but not appear, and attempting to enter their house informs the player that they have moved out. The affected villager will be completely removed from the island after the update is installed, and their plot will become vacant again.
The Gulliver's Travails Nook Miles achievement description had a spelling error fixed. Previously, the word "kindness" was misspelled as "kindess."
Two item duplication glitches, one involving a bugged table and the other involving the mailbox, were patched. Existing bugged tables would still be able to duplicate items until 1.6.0.