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Flora: The Secret Language of Plants in Art
240 pages, Hardcover
Published October 28, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
September 5, 2025
Thanks so much to NetGalley for the free Kindle book. My review is voluntarily given, and my opinions are my own.
When I requested this book, I was fully expecting maybe one picture for each flower and a sentence or two about them. I was stunned by the gorgeous illustrations, inclusion of classic artwork, and all of the information. I was expecting just geneneric things like 'this flower means blah blah blah'. Instead, there is information on mythological plants. Information about the meaning of flowers in artwork.
I already know several people that I will be recommending this book to. If my grandma was still alive, I would definitely but this for her. Even though I can't do that, it was nice to read a book that made me think of her.
Not only would I recommend this as a book just for anyone to read, but this is a great gift for any art or flower lover in your life. Bonus points for someone who loves both!
When I requested this book, I was fully expecting maybe one picture for each flower and a sentence or two about them. I was stunned by the gorgeous illustrations, inclusion of classic artwork, and all of the information. I was expecting just geneneric things like 'this flower means blah blah blah'. Instead, there is information on mythological plants. Information about the meaning of flowers in artwork.
I already know several people that I will be recommending this book to. If my grandma was still alive, I would definitely but this for her. Even though I can't do that, it was nice to read a book that made me think of her.
Not only would I recommend this as a book just for anyone to read, but this is a great gift for any art or flower lover in your life. Bonus points for someone who loves both!
November 6, 2025
A beautifully illustrated and informative book. Divided into three sections, trees, flowers, fruits and vegetables. It describes the symbolism in mythology or religion, other cultural references as well as in art with lots of examples. A great book for dipping in and out of.
October 17, 2025
With thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This is a gorgeous coffee table book that'll keep you company during the dark winter months when you're aching for plants and flowers to come alive again. The book gives you an overview of flowers, vegetables, and other plants in alphabetical order, together with folk remedies the plant is used in, botanical facts, and of course, how the plant has been used symbolically in art. The art reproductions are high quality and the selection is at times surprising; I did not expect to see medieval art featuring aubergines, for example. I did think it was funny that nearly every tree is apparently a candidate for the tree of life, and every fruit symbolises fecundity.
Sadly, the book uses a lot of ligatures, which makes the lettering look very refined at first glance, but which did hinder my reading flow. Read the back cover first to see if this also bothers you. But even then, there's many pretty pictures to enjoy without reading as well.
This is a gorgeous coffee table book that'll keep you company during the dark winter months when you're aching for plants and flowers to come alive again. The book gives you an overview of flowers, vegetables, and other plants in alphabetical order, together with folk remedies the plant is used in, botanical facts, and of course, how the plant has been used symbolically in art. The art reproductions are high quality and the selection is at times surprising; I did not expect to see medieval art featuring aubergines, for example. I did think it was funny that nearly every tree is apparently a candidate for the tree of life, and every fruit symbolises fecundity.
Sadly, the book uses a lot of ligatures, which makes the lettering look very refined at first glance, but which did hinder my reading flow. Read the back cover first to see if this also bothers you. But even then, there's many pretty pictures to enjoy without reading as well.
October 28, 2025
This book is a stunning, richly detailed celebration of how artists have been inspired by the natural world. I loved how the book connects plants to religion & mythology, especially the Greek stories that give deeper meaning to familiar flowers and trees. The design is beautiful, the illustrations rich, and each page invites slow, thoughtful reading.
While not an academic resource, it is wonderfully informative and full of insight for anyone interested in the intersection of art and nature. I truly enjoyed this beautiful book!
While not an academic resource, it is wonderfully informative and full of insight for anyone interested in the intersection of art and nature. I truly enjoyed this beautiful book!
October 28, 2025
Hope Werness's Flora offers an encyclopedic reference to understand the meaning of the natural world in art. The book contains high-quality, full-color illustrations and reproductions of exemplary paintings and sculptures. Werness explores the significance of plant imagery in art, in the environment, and life and invites the reader to reconsider ideas about our relationship with plants. She looks at ancient, classic, and contemporary art mostly referencing Western, Judeo-Christian imagery with some mention of Asian and Middle Eastern art. The book divides plants into trees; flowers; fruits, vegetables, and seasonings; and grains, grasses, and vines and explains the meaning they represent within the art.
I enjoyed this book and while I reviewed a digital copy, I can imagine the print version would have even greater impact. Those who appreciate art, cultural history, and gardening will find something interesting and entertaining in this thorough study of the representation of plants.
Thank you to Timber Press for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
I enjoyed this book and while I reviewed a digital copy, I can imagine the print version would have even greater impact. Those who appreciate art, cultural history, and gardening will find something interesting and entertaining in this thorough study of the representation of plants.
Thank you to Timber Press for providing this book for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
August 26, 2025
A very pretty book to look at with good information in it.
I loved every page of this book. For each plant, the author gives a short entry about their history, sometimes one page, sometimes multiple depending on the plant. Then gives examples from art, majority of the time starting on the same page. The selections were pretty good ranging from ancient to contemporary. I like that author highlighted sometimes even the use of shapes in paintings mattered by looking at the plants.
Its a bit random but I also really liked the plant index page where you could see the plants and their names. It made me become more familiar with them.
I didn't find anything that I did not enjoy. Sometimes the font was a bit hard to follow especially when s and t were next to each other but its totally fine and seemed pretty artistic.
I would recommend this book to people who are into plants but also those who are into history regardless their interest in flowers. Its not an overwhelming book. Very pretty, simple, yet informative.
Huge thanks to Netgalley, Timber Press and Hope Werness for this advanced reader copy.
I loved every page of this book. For each plant, the author gives a short entry about their history, sometimes one page, sometimes multiple depending on the plant. Then gives examples from art, majority of the time starting on the same page. The selections were pretty good ranging from ancient to contemporary. I like that author highlighted sometimes even the use of shapes in paintings mattered by looking at the plants.
Its a bit random but I also really liked the plant index page where you could see the plants and their names. It made me become more familiar with them.
I didn't find anything that I did not enjoy. Sometimes the font was a bit hard to follow especially when s and t were next to each other but its totally fine and seemed pretty artistic.
I would recommend this book to people who are into plants but also those who are into history regardless their interest in flowers. Its not an overwhelming book. Very pretty, simple, yet informative.
Huge thanks to Netgalley, Timber Press and Hope Werness for this advanced reader copy.
October 26, 2025
Book Review: Flora: The Secret Language of Plants in Art by Hope Werness
Rating: 4 Stars
I picked up Flora: The Secret Language of Plants in Art by Hope Werness mostly on a whim, and I’m so glad I did. This felt less like a dry reference and more like a conversation with a friend who happens to know everything about plants and how artists have loved them through the ages. Werness pairs botanical know-how with art history in a way that’s unexpectedly warm and vivid.
At its heart the book is organized by plant families — trees, flowers, fruits, vegetables, spices, grasses, grains, and vines — and each entry is a neat little doorway into how a particular plant has been seen, used, and imagined. You’ll hop from Piet Mondrian’s chrysanthemums to Faith Ringgold’s sunflowers, Georgia O’Keeffe’s black iris, Salvador Dalí’s narcissus, and even Yayoi Kusama’s pumpkins. These pairings don’t just show pretty pictures; they offer fresh, artistic readings of what each plant can mean in different hands and moments.
Each plant entry blends short botanical facts, folklore and folk remedies, mythological associations, and key art examples. It’s concise but layered: you get enough background to understand a flower’s symbolic weight, learn how a vegetable or spice featured in folk practice, and then see how artists across centuries have distilled those meanings into visual form. If you want to look up a single plant, there’s a helpful plant index; if you want to linger, you can read it straight through and luxuriate over the images and tidbits. The result is a lovely bridge between the scientific and the poetic.
On a personal note: I adored the cover and the book’s overall design — it feels like a proper coffee-table book, which is exactly how I want to use it. I came to this expecting light, surface-level stuff, but was pleasantly surprised by the depth: there are mythic plants, symbolic analyses, and well-chosen reproductions of classic and contemporary artworks. The images are high quality, and the plant index page (where you can see the plants and their names at a glance) is a small feature that I found genuinely useful. It’s the kind of book I’d reach for during long winter nights when I’m craving green things and want a dose of floral inspiration. Bottom line: this is a beautiful, informative book I’d happily own as a permanent fixture on my coffee table.
⚠️This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary⚠️
Rating: 4 Stars
I picked up Flora: The Secret Language of Plants in Art by Hope Werness mostly on a whim, and I’m so glad I did. This felt less like a dry reference and more like a conversation with a friend who happens to know everything about plants and how artists have loved them through the ages. Werness pairs botanical know-how with art history in a way that’s unexpectedly warm and vivid.
At its heart the book is organized by plant families — trees, flowers, fruits, vegetables, spices, grasses, grains, and vines — and each entry is a neat little doorway into how a particular plant has been seen, used, and imagined. You’ll hop from Piet Mondrian’s chrysanthemums to Faith Ringgold’s sunflowers, Georgia O’Keeffe’s black iris, Salvador Dalí’s narcissus, and even Yayoi Kusama’s pumpkins. These pairings don’t just show pretty pictures; they offer fresh, artistic readings of what each plant can mean in different hands and moments.
Each plant entry blends short botanical facts, folklore and folk remedies, mythological associations, and key art examples. It’s concise but layered: you get enough background to understand a flower’s symbolic weight, learn how a vegetable or spice featured in folk practice, and then see how artists across centuries have distilled those meanings into visual form. If you want to look up a single plant, there’s a helpful plant index; if you want to linger, you can read it straight through and luxuriate over the images and tidbits. The result is a lovely bridge between the scientific and the poetic.
On a personal note: I adored the cover and the book’s overall design — it feels like a proper coffee-table book, which is exactly how I want to use it. I came to this expecting light, surface-level stuff, but was pleasantly surprised by the depth: there are mythic plants, symbolic analyses, and well-chosen reproductions of classic and contemporary artworks. The images are high quality, and the plant index page (where you can see the plants and their names at a glance) is a small feature that I found genuinely useful. It’s the kind of book I’d reach for during long winter nights when I’m craving green things and want a dose of floral inspiration. Bottom line: this is a beautiful, informative book I’d happily own as a permanent fixture on my coffee table.
⚠️This review was written based on personal opinions and experiences with the book. Individual preferences may vary⚠️
October 10, 2025
Publishing date: 28.10.2025 (DD/MM/YYYY)
Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Press for the ARC. My opinions are my own.
TLDR //
A beautifully illustrated book about plants in art and their history therein. 4 stars, did the job
Quickfire likes and gripes //
Absolutely gorgeous artworks
Informative and pretty
My inner plant nerd is pleased and fed
Boppin index
Font is somewhat hard to read sometimes (depends on the letters next to each other)
What you get //
In Flora you get to look, oogle, and learn all in one book. I was IN for the visual feast and left with more knowledge of popular plants in artworks from now and years before my ancestors were conceived. This book will give you plant history, how they are used, placed, and utilized for meaning and emotions in works. Each plant has a page or two (or three) with history and examples of use.
Learned something new? //
I learned a lot about composition, shape language, colors, and the meaning of specific plants. Now I have more tools to use in my own work. Maybe there is hope for me to become a master painter just like the renaissance painters I look up to.
How it was to read //
This is a book I had to take my time with a little. The text is small in the digital copy I received and it wasn’t written in a way that lets me breeze through the text. So I took my time, oogled all the artworks, studied the different illustrations for inspiration, and even attempted to “copy” some of the works in my own sketchbook.
Audience //
This book is made for art nerds, artists, history geeks, and maybe even plant admirers. The more theoretical people, less so the practical ones. But the artists may get some inspo from this book (like me)
Final Verdict //
This is a very beautiful book and one which I got useable information from. However, I feel like the information escaped my mind not too long after. At no fault of the book’s, this is entirely autumn blues from my part. For now I am giving this 4 stars, and will revisit after I have purchased a “coffee table copy” for myself.
Thank you to NetGalley and Timber Press for the ARC. My opinions are my own.
TLDR //
A beautifully illustrated book about plants in art and their history therein. 4 stars, did the job
Quickfire likes and gripes //
Absolutely gorgeous artworks
Informative and pretty
My inner plant nerd is pleased and fed
Boppin index
Font is somewhat hard to read sometimes (depends on the letters next to each other)
What you get //
In Flora you get to look, oogle, and learn all in one book. I was IN for the visual feast and left with more knowledge of popular plants in artworks from now and years before my ancestors were conceived. This book will give you plant history, how they are used, placed, and utilized for meaning and emotions in works. Each plant has a page or two (or three) with history and examples of use.
Learned something new? //
I learned a lot about composition, shape language, colors, and the meaning of specific plants. Now I have more tools to use in my own work. Maybe there is hope for me to become a master painter just like the renaissance painters I look up to.
How it was to read //
This is a book I had to take my time with a little. The text is small in the digital copy I received and it wasn’t written in a way that lets me breeze through the text. So I took my time, oogled all the artworks, studied the different illustrations for inspiration, and even attempted to “copy” some of the works in my own sketchbook.
Audience //
This book is made for art nerds, artists, history geeks, and maybe even plant admirers. The more theoretical people, less so the practical ones. But the artists may get some inspo from this book (like me)
Final Verdict //
This is a very beautiful book and one which I got useable information from. However, I feel like the information escaped my mind not too long after. At no fault of the book’s, this is entirely autumn blues from my part. For now I am giving this 4 stars, and will revisit after I have purchased a “coffee table copy” for myself.
December 18, 2025
A book that pretty much does what you'd expect – discuss the symbolism of a lot of the trees and flowers that you could name. It's trees first, after the snappy introduction and a fully pictorial index section, and beyond the Tree of Life and the World Tree (and forests) we get to individual examples. Throughout we get the Latin names needed, a thoroughly decent Victorian botanist's depiction of the plant, and a page or two to discuss the flora and what they represent.
The issue with the trees might be that that ends up being slightly repetitive. A lot of them indicate immortality, or virginal behaviours, or steadfastness. It's only when we get to the flowers I think I found the variation I'd have wanted (which admittedly isn't the author's fault of course). Here the colours indicate things, the Language of Flowers (brought to Europe by a Swedish King after exile in Turkey) gives a "there's rosemary, that's for remembrance" kind of shtick, and it almost feels like anyone can decide anything about anything – the most phallic of arums can still represent the Virgin Mary, sunflowers can be devotion or the scariest Audrey/triffid in a hotel corridor, while carnations can be indicative of marriage yet also hark back to a kid having his eyes torn out.
We close with a further large chapter on fruits – what was the aubergine before that emoji? – and then a shorter one on grasses, grains and the humble vine. And I thought this was a success, all told – I won't be the only one asking it "which Pliny?!" but this serves for academic collections and plant-lovers' shelves. The breadth of the art is pretty strong – even if this is very much western thinking and western art, we certainly leave the major canon of classics behind. Serving its purpose well and giving us fine representations of the relevant paintings and sculpture, this is a strong four stars.
Questionable choice of font, mind.
The issue with the trees might be that that ends up being slightly repetitive. A lot of them indicate immortality, or virginal behaviours, or steadfastness. It's only when we get to the flowers I think I found the variation I'd have wanted (which admittedly isn't the author's fault of course). Here the colours indicate things, the Language of Flowers (brought to Europe by a Swedish King after exile in Turkey) gives a "there's rosemary, that's for remembrance" kind of shtick, and it almost feels like anyone can decide anything about anything – the most phallic of arums can still represent the Virgin Mary, sunflowers can be devotion or the scariest Audrey/triffid in a hotel corridor, while carnations can be indicative of marriage yet also hark back to a kid having his eyes torn out.
We close with a further large chapter on fruits – what was the aubergine before that emoji? – and then a shorter one on grasses, grains and the humble vine. And I thought this was a success, all told – I won't be the only one asking it "which Pliny?!" but this serves for academic collections and plant-lovers' shelves. The breadth of the art is pretty strong – even if this is very much western thinking and western art, we certainly leave the major canon of classics behind. Serving its purpose well and giving us fine representations of the relevant paintings and sculpture, this is a strong four stars.
Questionable choice of font, mind.
November 25, 2025
Originally posted on my blog Nonstop Reader.
Flora is a well written and fascinating monograph deep dive into floral symbolism in classical art by Dr. Hope Werness. Released 28th Oct 2025 by Hachette on their Timber Press imprint, it's 240 pages and is available in hardcover format.
Beautifully illustrated throughout, the intelligently written (layman accessible) text is peppered with historical art, illustrations, facsimiles, and records. The information is arranged thematically: trees, flowers, fruits vegetables & seasonings, and grains grasses & vines. The author writes engagingly and in simple precise language which isn't dry or overly academic.
The author is very well versed in her subject matter and writes accurately and "shows her work" in cultural and historical references, drawing subtle but logical conclusions from the material. The chapter notes are likely worth the price of the book alone and will provide keen readers with many hours of further reading and exploration. She seems like a heck of a professor and her students and colleagues are lucky to move in the same orbits. Very interesting info, very well presented.
It's admittedly a niche subject, but fascinating nonetheless.
Five stars, it would be a superlative choice for public or post-secondary school library acquisition, home library, gardening / art interested discussion groups, or gift giving.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Flora is a well written and fascinating monograph deep dive into floral symbolism in classical art by Dr. Hope Werness. Released 28th Oct 2025 by Hachette on their Timber Press imprint, it's 240 pages and is available in hardcover format.
Beautifully illustrated throughout, the intelligently written (layman accessible) text is peppered with historical art, illustrations, facsimiles, and records. The information is arranged thematically: trees, flowers, fruits vegetables & seasonings, and grains grasses & vines. The author writes engagingly and in simple precise language which isn't dry or overly academic.
The author is very well versed in her subject matter and writes accurately and "shows her work" in cultural and historical references, drawing subtle but logical conclusions from the material. The chapter notes are likely worth the price of the book alone and will provide keen readers with many hours of further reading and exploration. She seems like a heck of a professor and her students and colleagues are lucky to move in the same orbits. Very interesting info, very well presented.
It's admittedly a niche subject, but fascinating nonetheless.
Five stars, it would be a superlative choice for public or post-secondary school library acquisition, home library, gardening / art interested discussion groups, or gift giving.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
December 3, 2025
3.5 rounded down
I enjoyed it and found it interesting and I liked how the book and information was organized.
However, I felt the book also didn’t provide enough details and was painfully Eurocentric. If the country wasn’t on the Mediterranean or in Europe, hardly anything was said about it. Egypt got a couple of passages, and Palestine and Persia got a couple of sentences but that was about it. Even when plants that originated in Asia or Latin America were mentioned, hardly anything was said about their depictions in those areas of the world. Instead, nearly everything was about Greek mythology or Christianity. Got a bit tedious.
I enjoyed it and found it interesting and I liked how the book and information was organized.
However, I felt the book also didn’t provide enough details and was painfully Eurocentric. If the country wasn’t on the Mediterranean or in Europe, hardly anything was said about it. Egypt got a couple of passages, and Palestine and Persia got a couple of sentences but that was about it. Even when plants that originated in Asia or Latin America were mentioned, hardly anything was said about their depictions in those areas of the world. Instead, nearly everything was about Greek mythology or Christianity. Got a bit tedious.
November 6, 2025
This is a short book that focuses on the cultural symbolism of plants and how they have been seen and used through history and in visual arts.
It's an interesting book to have and to keep close and is a perfect kind of book to be gifted to anyone passionate about this subject.
I am grateful to have received this in order to share my view on it, while I didn't find it as rich in details as I would have liked, it's a great start to research and to create, it's a wonderful tool for inspiration. And it's so full of illustrations, browsing through it often it's an experience on its own.
It's an interesting book to have and to keep close and is a perfect kind of book to be gifted to anyone passionate about this subject.
I am grateful to have received this in order to share my view on it, while I didn't find it as rich in details as I would have liked, it's a great start to research and to create, it's a wonderful tool for inspiration. And it's so full of illustrations, browsing through it often it's an experience on its own.
August 31, 2025
Lovely book. I would love to buy a physical copy as a coffee table book. That isn't to say it's just for the art; I enjoyed learning about the way symbolism, religion, art, literature, and history are all touched by flora. But it also works well as a reference and is something I'd like to pick up again.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews