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Wreaths & Bouquets by Pryke, Paula [05 October 2010]
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 23, 2012
This followed right after going through an amazing book on ikebana. This just didn't or couldn't compare. This just did not inspire as I had hoped it would. Outside of a few cute ideas to do with Curly Willow or raffia, I was left reading a lot and with little to no inspiration. This book is not meant for beginners, but seems to try to be as the instructions constantly call for the removal of foliage from the flower stem. It is a very basic move for creating handties and arrangements. Her favorite flowers to use are not easily obtained for most customers, nor would I recommend most of her flower choices. In my experience, Gerberas, Peony, and Ranunculus are fragile and will easily blow out (fully bloom) in a moment’s notice. Dahlia can crumble apart if you blink wrong, and kale (which was in all of her autumn examples) can easily become very slimy and smelly. What's this rotting smell coming from my flowers? Oh, it's just the kale turning into sludge.
She went on a lot about holiday traditions and festivals, which had some tie in here, but I fail to grasp it. Her color associations were a little off in my experience. Yellow is more connected to Fall (not Spring), Pink with Spring (not summer)...
You can argue that those are my personal connections, and they are. But I can tell you that yellow is one of the first and last colors to bloom. Yellow, orange, and dark red is everywhere in Fall, pink and purple for Mother's Day, and very vibrant colors for the Summer. Why don't I have anything for Winter? Other than whites and pastels (which can lean towards the Spring side), people just don't buy too much in the Winter.
Valentine's Day.
I'm going to tell you the reason right now why people wait to the last minute to purchase flowers for their dates. Flowers are highly perishable and to ensure that what is given is beautiful and fresh, closer to the date the better.
Symbolism was completely ignored here too. She was recommending flowers that can be associated with arrogance and pride (Narcissus and Amaryllis). For Valentine's people actually ask about the symbolism of flowers. Might as well recommend Hydrangea (heartless) to them.
Lastly, there was the handy seasonal flower guide at the end. It was fine, but considering that I (who actually works with flowers) did not recognize all of them, I don't expect the average person to pick up on which one was which either. Even with the process of elimination for the example pictures, it wasn't a way to identify most of the ones I did not already have an idea of what they were. Pictures with the names would have been nice. The common name listed and then the scientific name would have also been nice.
She went on a lot about holiday traditions and festivals, which had some tie in here, but I fail to grasp it. Her color associations were a little off in my experience. Yellow is more connected to Fall (not Spring), Pink with Spring (not summer)...
You can argue that those are my personal connections, and they are. But I can tell you that yellow is one of the first and last colors to bloom. Yellow, orange, and dark red is everywhere in Fall, pink and purple for Mother's Day, and very vibrant colors for the Summer. Why don't I have anything for Winter? Other than whites and pastels (which can lean towards the Spring side), people just don't buy too much in the Winter.
Valentine's Day.
I'm going to tell you the reason right now why people wait to the last minute to purchase flowers for their dates. Flowers are highly perishable and to ensure that what is given is beautiful and fresh, closer to the date the better.
Symbolism was completely ignored here too. She was recommending flowers that can be associated with arrogance and pride (Narcissus and Amaryllis). For Valentine's people actually ask about the symbolism of flowers. Might as well recommend Hydrangea (heartless) to them.
Lastly, there was the handy seasonal flower guide at the end. It was fine, but considering that I (who actually works with flowers) did not recognize all of them, I don't expect the average person to pick up on which one was which either. Even with the process of elimination for the example pictures, it wasn't a way to identify most of the ones I did not already have an idea of what they were. Pictures with the names would have been nice. The common name listed and then the scientific name would have also been nice.
April 10, 2010
Beautiful ideas and gorgeous photography.
December 5, 2013
Excellent examples and easy to read instruction to make a variety of wreaths and bouquets. I am looking forward to making a wreath for the Christmas season
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews