Flowers, Flowers!: Inspired Arrangements for All Occasions

by Paula Pryke

This book creates a whole new aesthetic for flowers. Paula Pryke breaks the mold of conventional flower arranging so successfully that this visionary collection of arrangements gives real meaning to the term floral art. Her originality, ingenuity and dramatic use of raw materials are key to the strong visual impact, vibrancy and always perfectly harmonious arrangements she creates. Stunningly photographed, the book is both a rich sourcebook of fresh and stylish ideas and a highly practical guide enabling the amateur to create dozens of artistic arrangements for every occasion. The multiplicity of flowers available today offers almost limitless scope for flower arrangers. Part of the book's novel approach is to encourage experimentation and innovation by showing how to mix some of the less familiar flowers now appearing on the market, with the more typical.

How to create celebration arrangements for anniversaries, Christmas, the New Year, Easter, Hallowe'en, Mother's Day, weddings, birthdays and house warmings. Which containers to choose to complement pottery, china, wood, basketry or metal, and how to make unusual natural containers from vegetables and foliage. How to arrange flowers according to particular color schemes, through the spectrum of reds, yellows and greens to blues, whites and mixed combinations. Selecting floral themes, whether formal or informal, period or modern, scented, edible or tropical. Easy-to-follow, step-by-step photographs and an illustrated chapter on techniques show you how to achieve perfect results. A comprehensive gazetteer acts as a reference guide to over 300 flowers. In Flowers, Flowers!, the artistry and expertise of Paula Pryke's masterful flower arranging skills are now accessible for the first time, to capture the imagination, teach and inspire.

Genres: Reference

192 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1993

Reviews

[Linnae · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars: Beautiful, full-color 2-page photos of various arrangements. A few new ideas, dense text.

Pryke is a very talented floral designer. It was great to get a peek inside some of her design ideas. The chapters include: The Flower Market, Selecting a Theme, Containers, Colour Themes, Special Occasions, and Techniques. She has creative ideas for covering your container with plant material, or layering vases so that you can fill in the space between them as part of the display.

I liked her ideas about experimenting within one color group. She even had a bouquet made from all edible elements that was beautiful and interesting. She has several pages with step-by-step instructions for various arrangements.

Overall, it was useful. At the risk of sounding whiny, I have to say--the book was very big and the text very small. It put me to sleep a couple of times. I was disappointed by the "Techniques" section. After a book full of beautiful color photos, the Techniques section was all in black and white! Other than a few basics on tools, stem treatments, etc., it was primarily a guide to wiring flowers, or other materials.

It was great to glean information and ideas from, but as far as recreating any of the arrangements, it was way out of my league. She has exotic flowers from around the world at her fingertips--large amounts of them, apparently--along with large, antique containers of various kinds. As someone who is interested in growing my own flowers for arrangements, I may never have access to some of her materials.

For more reviews--plus flowers!--visit my blog: www.ofbooksandblooms.com