On June 20 and 21, the Cornwall Library will celebrate its 10th anniversary of Books & Blooms, the two-day celebration of gardens, art, and the rural beauty of Cornwall. This beloved annual benefit features a talk, reception, art exhibit, and self-guided tours of four extraordinary local gardens.

The first Library sponsored garden tour was in June 2010 and featured a talk by Page Dickey, an avid gardener and author. This year’s Books & Blooms will coincide with Ellen Moon’s exhibit “Thinking About Gardens,” a collection of watercolors capturing the quiet spirit of Cornwall’s private gardens. Moon, a weekly storyteller to the first grade at Cornwall Consolidated School and art curator for The Cornwall Library, paints en plein air. Her work investigates what constitutes a garden. In the description of the show, she writes: “there are many sorts...formal, botanical, cottage, vegetable, herb...even a path through the woods is a kind of garden. My current working definition of a garden is a human intervention in the landscape to enhance human appreciation of the landscape.” Also on display are two of her hand-embroidered jackets. One depicts spring’s flowering trees and pollinators. The other, a kimono, was inspired by Yeats’s “The Song of the Wandering Aengus.”

On Friday, June 20 at 5:30 p.m. writer and garden philosopher Dee Salomon will give a talk titled, “What Makes a Garden a Garden?” at Cornwall Town Hall. Beloved for her “Ungardener” column here in our newspapers, Salomon will reflect on the meaning of gardens and their place in the human imagination. The presentation is followed by a festive cocktail reception at the library, with live music by the Crownback Funk Trio, an improvisational blend of funk, blues, and jazz.

Then on Saturday, participants can enjoy self-guided tours of four distinctive Cornwall gardens, each with docents on hand to answer questions. From a terraced Italianate hillside overlooking the Housatonic River to a wild deer-frequented garden brimming with perennials and daffodils, these gardens tell stories of transformation, imagination, and place.

Books & Blooms is a reflection of the Cornwall Library’s vital role in town. “The library really is the central meeting place,” said event organizer Kirk Van Tassel. “People come here for talks, kids’ programs, art exhibits. It’s a cornerstone of community life.”

To purchase tickets, visit cornwalllibrary.org

Provided