Books

Flowers A to Z: A Practical Guide to Buying, Growing, Cutting, Arranging

Average customer rating:

Great Service
I use this book all the time!
Simply Stunning
Great For Your Reference Library or Your Coffee Table
Finally..A fabulous guide for cut flowers

Flowers A to Z: A Practical Guide to Buying, Growing, Cutting, Arranging
Cecelia Heffernan
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Flower Arranging | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Home & Garden Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The Floral Artist's Guide: A Reference to Cut Flowers and Foliages (Floral Artist's Guide)
Teach Yourself Flower Arranging
Paula Pryke's Flower School: Mastering the Art of Floral Design
Flower arranging (Rd Home Handbooks)
Flowers: The Complete Book of Floral Design

ASIN: 0810933489

Amazon.com

Many people love the idea of a house full of fresh-cut flowers, but sadly, most have no idea how to select, care for, and arrange flowers, much less grow them. Flowers A to Z is a superb guide for anyone who enjoys flowers and wants to celebrate them in the home or garden. Author Cecelia Heffernan, a floral designer by trade, provides a wealth of information on how to cut, purchase, arrange, care for, and grow all types of flowers.

The book is divided into sections covering everything leading up to a beautiful flower arrangement sitting on your dining room table. It begins with a chapter on hardware, which details all the basic tools--from floral shears to floral wire and tape--that you'll need for cutting and arranging flowers, as well as advice on choosing and caring for vases and other containers. The "Handling Flowers" chapter explains the proper way to cut, condition, and care for flowers to ensure the most attractive and long-lasting arrangements. The author sprinkles valuable tidbits of advice throughout the book. She suggests, for instance, that it is better to use branches or thick foliage as arranging aids instead of floral foam, chicken wire, or other artificial aids, as those can shorten the vase life of flowers significantly. This section concludes with a concise and informative guide to growing flowers in your home garden.

The final section, which makes up the bulk of the book, is an alphabetically arranged guide to flowers from agapanthus to zinnia. Each flower is depicted in a gorgeous full-page photograph, while smaller images show the flowers in different stages of development, illustrating the difference between fresh and older flowers. The informative text is written in a handy reference style, detailing the specifics of each flower: its scientific name, available colors, scent, how long the blooms will last after being cut, relative cost, and other useful information.

The gorgeous photographs, accessible text, and handy cross-referencing will surely inspire many readers to fill their homes and gardens with blossoms. --Robin Donovan

Book Description

With a wealth of information and a large, exquisite color photograph on every spread, Flowers A to Z is a joy to peruse and entirely unique. Author Cecelia Heffernan—florist and garden designer extraordinaire—shares her extensive practical knowledge about every aspect of buying, growing, cutting, and displaying flowers in a gorgeous, full-color, oversized book that will surely be the flower lover's gift book of the season.

In easy-to-absorb chart form, readers will find, for each flower: common names; varieties; descriptions of color and scent; the flower's meaning; and facts on freshness, vase life, and cost at different seasons. Plus, there are illustrated sections packed with care, growing, and arranging tips.

Customer Reviews:

Great Service.......2006-02-25

Even though there was a delay in shipment, I was very satisfied with the price and the condition the book was in. I definately would purchase again from amazon.com.

Cindy

I use this book all the time!.......2001-10-05

This book is a great resource for anyone with a cutting garden, a love of flowers, or a romantic husband. It's full of great tips for all different types of flowers and has allowed me to increase the longevity of the bouquets I receive.

I liked it so much that I bought one for mother's day.

The only thing I didn't like about this book is that it shows flowers being cut in air when they should always be cut underwater!

Simply Stunning.......2001-08-08

Not only is this book packed with the most gorgeous photographs, but also it's also full of practical advice. As the title suggests, it is arranged in alphabetical order so that looking for the flower you are after is quick and easy. Each flower is presented with a double page spread, and includes tips on buying, growing, arranging and cutting. It's an extremely useful reference with information on important flower-related problems such as how to make each flower last longer in the vase, what's poisonous, etc. it even gives you the meaning of flower names. Even if you're not into the practical side of arranging flowers, this book is equally valuable as a stunning coffee table book.

Great For Your Reference Library or Your Coffee Table.......2001-07-08

"Flowers A to Z" is a wonderful resource that is definitely needed. Essentially it is a dictionary of flowers, containing information about names, colors, vase life, how to tell freshness, availability, designing tips and more!! But what a dictionary!!!! It is a very large and visually stunning book, lavishly illustrated with beautiful photographs. "Flowers A to Z" provides very practical information about floral product in a format that elevates the content to an art book! Pros and hobbyists alike will appreciate it for both its content and presentation. "Flowers A to Z" would be equally appropriate in your reference library or on your coffee table.

Finally..A fabulous guide for cut flowers.......2001-03-29

For anyone who enjoys flowers, this book is a must! Full of artfully done full-page color photos, it contains a wealth of information on cut flowers. What I really liked was the types of flowers the author choose to include, hydrangea, fritillaria, peonies as well as many other unique varieties. Very upscale and cutting edge, this is not your run of the mill book on daisies. Each flower contains 2 full pages and includes growing and arranging tips, as well as care and handling. An indispensable reference.

Books:

Books