A Flower Arranger’s Garden

Numéro d'article 10124760

How many flower arrangers, when planning their gardens, take into account the question of which are the best flowers and shrubs to provide decorative material for cutting? Grizelda Maurice’s book deals with the growing as well as the arrangement of flowers, and shows you how to plant your garden in such a way as to ensure that there will always be flower arranging material available for home or church, not only for large vases but also for small posies. Even a small garden can supply a good and varied range of flowers and foliage and will thus save the expense of florists’ bunches. Every flower and plant recommended in this book has been tested by the author and has proved itself suitable for arranging, with reasonable stem flowers. To help you get the best from each plant there are brief instructions on habitat, particularly soil requirements, and conditioning once the flower has been picked. The author shows how to plant the garden so that cutting will not deplete its overall effect. Tables list plants which will be available at specific times of year, classified according to colour. For help during the stark winter months there is a chapter on drying plants and plenty of advice is given on suitable containers for both fresh and dried flowers. With this book and a little forward planning you can ensure that there will always be something suitable for cutting throughout the year. Grizelda Maurice has been involved in organising major flower festivals for 15 years. She is the author of Flower Arranging and Flower Festivals in Church (Batsford, 1982). She lives in St Albans. Other flower arranging books published by Batsford: Wedding Flowers – Pauline Mann. Flower Arranging Without a Garden – Pauline Mann. Floristry Handbook – Rona Coleman. Pulbrook & Gould’s Flowers for Special Occasions. For details of these and other Batsford books, please write to: B. T. Batsford Ltd, 4 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 0AH. The front cover shows a white Chinese vase filled with mixed summer flowers including ‘Golden Shower’ roses and ‘Sterling Star’ lilies, offset by trails of a yellow-leaved hop and houseleeks (photographs: Shelagh Collingwood). Drawing by Bruce Hyatt. The back cover shows an earthenware pot planted with grey Artemisia ludoviciana, pink pelargonium, sedum and fuchsia to tie up with the pink rambler rose. ISBN 0 7134 5373 7 Typeset by Tek-Art Ltd, Kent and printed by Anchor Brendon Ltd, Tiptree, Essex for the publishers B. T. Batsford Ltd, 4 Fitzhardinge Street, London W1H 0AH. Contents Introduction Planning the garden – The patio garden – Shrubs – Climbers – Bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes – Ground cover – Shade and semi-shade loving plants – Grasses and grass-like plants – Ferns – Grey plants. Flowers and colours – Blue – Brown – Green – Grey – Mauve and purple – Orange – Pink – Red – White and cream – Yellow – Colour grouping. Tables of flowering seasons – Shrubs – Climbers – Herbaceous plants – Bulbs, corms, tubers and rhizomes. Conditioning – Basic conditioning – Special conditioning. Dried material – When to pick – Drying – Storage – Arranging. Mechanics – Garlands – Containers. Flowers for special occasions – Dinner parties – Kitchen parties and buffet tables – Marques – Pedestals – Constructions – Church flowers. Christmas decorations. Bibliography. Index