There are hundreds of ideas for using fresh and dried flowers. The step-by-step sequences make the techniques clear and simple. When you start arranging flowers, you quickly find out you need an "essential kit" in order to complete even a basic flower arrangement. This is where "Practical Techniques" comes into play.

You will want to buy a glue gun, floral wires, pruning knife, florist's scissors, etc. All the essential supplies are listed with pictures. This book is filled with pictures! The first chapter discusses Flowers In Civilization and shows flowers in history and art.

Elements of Design is a visual guide to flower colors and the pages are filled with piles of wonderful petals in every color. I loved the Container Shapes section. There are two sections, with one further into the book.

This book is SO INCREDIBLE! .....Shall I continue..?

Then, we get to Inspiration. You will find page after page after page of mini-floral displays with the page number so you can learn how to make the arrangement with precise instructions. There are arrangements in this book you would not even imagine in your wildest floral dreams.

For instance, on page 96 there is an underwater floral arrangement. There are upside down glasses, with flowers in them, floating in the water and facing outwards in a huge vase. Then, OH MY..I happen upon page 212 and there is a hanging upside down Christmas Tree dangling dangerously from the ceiling. I am not sure I approve! Decorating the tree looked a bit dangerous, but it sure was creative.

A Floral Ice Bowl on page 248 is one of my favorite ideas as the flowers are suspended in their original beauty in ice. Then, in the summer...how about a "watermelon vase?" The Floral Place Setting is a way to beautifully decorate each place setting is a wonderful summer idea or dried herbs could be used in the winter. The mini-christmas trees are an idea even children could help make.

An A-Z plant guide is a huge section. This visual guide will introduce you to just about every flower you would ever want to use in an arrangement. Some useful addresses complete with Web site addresses gives you even more information. An easy-to-use Index helps you locate your favorite flowers.

If you want inspiration and information, this is the book for you!

Rating: 5 - A pleasure book for flower-arranging lovers
This is one of the best books I read on floral design. This one is very visual : it has gorgeous pictures. It makes a great present for flowers lovers or even as a coffee-table book. For each arrangement you get to know the proper season to find the flowers, how long it will last, how difficult it is. This book clearly brings inspiration. The choice of containers is daring. The only critics I will make : not enough step-by-step instructions for some arrangements, the use of scientific (latin) names instead of the common name, and as usual in this kind of book, you need a lot of flowers to reach the pictured effect, which means that these arrangements are not affordable to anyone. Still, I love it !

Rating: 5 - great book
This book is chock full of beautiful photos of fabulous arrangements. The author begins the book w/ a history of flower arranging, and goes on to discuss color, glassware choices, and necessary materials. Has excellent information on conditioning, and an A-Z guide to plant materials. An excellent reference.