24 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular Illustrations of How Flowers Were Found!, September 22, 2001
This review is from: Flora: An Illustrated History of the Garden Flower (Hardcover)
In the books preface, Sir Simon Hornby says that this is a book of beauty and considerable horticultural significance. I heartily agree.
Todays gardens and florist shops are filled with fascinating scents, dazzling colors, and intricate designs. Go back just a few hundred years, and the choices were limited to what grew fairly nearby. Around 1560, Europe began its push to locate the most wonderful flowers and bring them into cultivation there (either in greenhouses or outdoors). Major progress was made beginning in 1804 when The Royal Horticultural Society began systematically encouraging and recording the efforts of plant hunters. Botanists, collectors, and commercial operations scoured the globe and came back with the precursors of the many marvelous flowers we enjoy today. Selective breeding began seriously in the 19th century, and many new strains and improvements in old ones occurred since.
The Royal Horticultural Societys Lindley Library is a unique resource in this area, containing a collection of over 250,000 sources. Dr. Brent Elliott is the librarian and chief archivist for the society, and drew on its vast resources for the illustrations in this gorgeous volume.
The books primary value is to document the original appearance of the flowers when they were first collected. In most cases, this means a full color, intricate drawing of flowers, leaves, and stems. In other cases, the roots and/or bulb are also shown. You can then compare them to the varieties that you see today, and appreciate the effects of horticulture on our behalf.
For those who want to know about where and when the flowers located, this volume also provides a simple, nontechnical explanation grouped around Europe, the Turkish Empire, Africa, the Americas, Asia, and Australia.
If you are like me, the origins of many flowers are unknown. Did you know that tulips were imported from the Turkish Empire to Holland? That helps explain the Tulipmania there, which is briefly described in this book.
Some of the many flowers you will see include cacti, orchids, water lilies, fuchsias, dahlias, poppies, poinsettias, begonias, hibiscus, impatiens, hydrangeas, camellias, chrysanthemums, roses, rhododendrons, clematis, aspidistras, tulips, hyacinths, daffodils, crocuses, and lilies.
The book also has minibiographies of around 30 plant hunters and artists represented in the book.
All those who love flowers will find this book fascinating and desirable. I know lots of people who do not know the names of the flowers they like. This volume will also be a good source of identification involving the scientific names for those people, and help them to build their gardens.
Anyone who loves seeing the details of flowers will also enjoy this volume. You would need a magnifying glass in many cases to see as many details as these illustrations usually show you.
After you finish this remarkable book, imagine the opportunity we have to explore the microscopic physical characteristics of plants and their genetic instructions. What should that search look like? Where should the information be stored? What should we try to learn?
Look for the opportunities to extend beauty and knowledge . . . always!
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