Paula Pryke's Flower School: Mastering the Art of Floral Design

Nothing lights up a room like flowers. Whether it's baby's breath draped on a table at a wedding reception, clusters of daffodils in small pots scattered throughout a living room or a bucket of sunflowers on a picnic table, a strategically placed bouquet has the power to create a mood and make us feel special. Unfortunately, most of us don't know how to display flowers properly, and they often end up clumsily thrown together in a vase.

In A Passion for Flowers, Carolyne Roehm teaches readers how to create arrangements that set off a flower's natural beauty. She discusses the overall features of dozens of the most popular flowers and helps readers understand how these elements relate to each other. Though the book is filled with ideas for brightening holidays and special occasions, Roehm stresses that the magic of flowers should be enjoyed year-round. Organized by season to profile the blossoms as they come into their glory, bouquet "recipes" with step-by-step instructions are sprinkled throughout along with special care instructions for more sensitive blooms. Sections detailing containers, conditioning flowers and elements of floral design are included at the end of the book. A Passion for Flowers features 250 breathtaking photographs and is a treasure trove of knowledge and inspiration that will help readers stop and smell the roses every day.

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 arrangements: 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.

With the help of this exquisite and instruction-filled guide, anyone can create gorgeous wedding arrangements with ease. It covers all the important points any designer must take into consideration: how to coordinate the flowers with the overall theme of the ceremony; where the arrangements will be needed, from personal boutonnieres to centerpieces at the reception; and how to work with a florist to get the blooms. Floral basics and how-tos range from important facts on color and composition to suggestions on bouquet shapes and their relation to the dresses. Most important are the various projects to duplicate exactly or use as a springboard, from lovely monochromatic themes to seasonal styles.

The New Book of Wedding Flowers : Simple & Stylish Arrangements for the Creative Bride.......2005-09-30