Another Garden Moment --Inside

Today's garden moment happened inside the East Hampton public library.  I met a good friend and garden club member at the library to set up a display of garden books for April.  The garden club donated some funds to the library to purchase books recommended by our members at the January book discussion meeting.  Sue Berescik, the library director, met us and cleared a shelf top for the books.  Sue had purchased the new books and placed a bookplate "Suggested by the Belltown Garden Club" inside.  The books looked wonderful, covering topics of gardening from shade gardens to vegetable gardens and from growing roses to planting natives. I had brought in last week an old tin bucket, some dirty garden gloves, a trowel, a kneeler, and some green garden clogs to add realism to the display.  I borrowed the straw hat of another good friend and garden club to brighten up the display. She had embroidered the hat with our club's name and decoupaged it with pink cabbage roses.  It was special because she wore it when we sat in the audience at the Martha Stewart Show on March 1st in New York City.

Bonnie's garden hat from the Martha Stewart Show

But the special moment today came when JoAnn called my attention to the Bradford pear tree branches I had brought in to the library last week.  They were blooming! I had almost given up hope that they would.  Bonnie and I had picked up some fallen branches in the village center traffic triangle earlier in March when the snow had melted.  We both took some home to force.  Bonnie's bloomed right away, but mine had not.  I took them to the library for the display last week, stating I would give them a week to ten days and then replace them with other branches.  It might have helped that the temperature in the library today was over 80 degrees because of problems with their thermostat.  I guess I'm not the only living thing that has been cold in my house this spring (that still seems like winter!).