Monday was St. Barbara’s day and although I am not religious, I track the world’ holidays for their symbolism, intent and beauty.  A custom for St. Barbara’s is to bring in branches of flowering trees and shrubs and “force” them, or put them in a warm environment to trick them into blooming.  Like forcing narcissus, this tricks us as well, and reinforces our hope that spring follows winter and warmth and green will return to the earth.

This tall vase complements the leggy branches.  I have plum, pear, and cherry in the mix here.  In a few weeks, we’ll hopefully see what happens!