Customer Reviews

A Passion for Flowers

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In "A Passion for Flowers," Carolyne Roehm puts the skills she honed in a fashion design career to what is obviously an equally compelling use -- combining color, texture and proportion to create fabulous flower arrangements that inspire and delight.

"Try to avoid being safe all the time," she tells her readers. "Safe is a hairsbreadth away from boring and utterly forgettable. If in doubt, go a bit overboard. Better to make an impact with your flowers than to have them go unnoticed."

Indeed, Roehm's flower creations are as far from boring and forgettable as one can imagine. Tucked in tiny pots, lavished in oversized urns, strewn among fruits and vegetables, her flowers are more than mere table decoration -- they are a way of life. In setting after setting, Roehm stages her own personal flower show and shares with readers the seemingly simple secrets of receating her masterpieces. Her directions are clear and concise, from how many stems of each flower to use to choosing appropriate containers. If, after following directions, novice flower arrangers are still unsure of themselves, they need only look to the larger-than-life color photos for petal-perfect models.

While Roehm's natural eye for color and form makes flower arranging look easy, her approach to preparing a book on the subject was serious -- she apprenticed to Paris florist Henri Moulie. The results are breathtaking. My personal favorites include an outdoor wedding table draped in delicate wreaths of baby's breath and spirea and an autumn centerpiece that tantalizes the senses by using dahlias, sedum, wild blackberries and chocolate cosmos!

Oh, and readers intimidated by elaborate garden parties -- take heart. Roehm admits to an inability to grow some of her favorite flowers, instead buying them in-season at local farmers' markets -- an option even for those who love to adorn their home with flowers but haven't the time or desire to garden.

At first glance, "A Passion for Flowers" is a c! offee-table picture book or a winter pick-me-up, and, if nothing else, serves those purposes admirably. But it's also a valuable "how-to" and reference guide to arranging flowers, and a showcase for the shining bits of nature that they are. If you love flowers -- and all things beautiful -- this book will be a visual feast. If you don't appreciate their subtleties, try picking up this book anyway. It may change your outlook permanently.

Carolyne Roehm demonstrates her exquisite taste from the very first page of this lavish book. Organized by season, each chapter celebrates the beauty of all sorts of blossoms in stunning arrangements. These arrangements are lush and full and show an artist's mastery of texture and extraordinary combination of color. The photos are reminiscent of the sumptuousness of the movie, The Age of Innocence, with lovely gilded gold, crystal and porcelain containers. The photography truly is breathtaking and includes not only close ups of the bouquets but also glimpses of elegantly set dining tables, gorgeously furnished rooms and spacious gardens. Her prose is poetry, but also practical in the sections on containers, elements of style and basics. A better book on flower arranging couldn't possibly exist.

The flowers depicted in this book gave their lives for a truly noble cause and have been honored appropriately by the photographer. Quite simply they were displayed and photographed in the most beautiful fashion possible. Perhaps the key word there is fashion -- Carolyn Roehm has the experience and eye for fashion, having been a former designer, and that experience may be what enabled her to display the flowers in a way that truly does them justice. I coveted this book for a long while, having seen it in a bookstore, and couldn't get it out of my mind. Now that I own it, I consider myself very fortunate indeed. The book is divided into the four seasons. Particularly strong are the photos depicting the flowers prevalent in Fall and Spring. The smoky greens, yellows, oranges, reds, and browns of the Fall months's foliage manage to look festive and lovely despite their representing the waining of life until the Spring. The photos of lilacs and daffodils in the section on Spring make one hopeful for the end of winter and make one realize why all that shivering is eventually worthwhile. I loved this book and recommend it heartily for anyone who loves pretty flowers and doesn't particularly have any special horticultural knowledge.

As an avid gardener and reader, it was such a pleasure to find a reference book that not only told me things I didn't know, but gave my eyes pleasure in the process. I am buying several for all my friends. This one will stay on my shelf for the rest of my life.

This book was given to me as a birthday gift, and I am still in awe at my good fortune. Not only is the floral design breathtaking, Ms. Roehm gives excellent design tips on color, which vase to use, what flowers work best with each other, and on conditioning flowers whether they be cut from your own garden or purchased through a wholesale flower market.

The title of this book is so perfect, as it is truly about flowers and style, and it's well worth the price.

Carolyne Roehm uses her fashion designer's sense of good taste and style to create beautiful flower arrangements. She has a keen eye for color schemes and applies it to her bouquets. The photographs are inspiring!

This book is a joy- the vibrant photos actually helped me through the long Pennsylvania winter. Lots of great tips on arrangements- from colors and containers. I envy Roehme's budget for entertaining!

This book is so beautifully photographed, so lovely to look at, so engaging... it's nearly impossible to stop thinking about it.

This is more than a book filled with nice pictures of flowers, it is ART. Each photo has been carefully staged and presented in a manner that evokes memories of 17th century still-life paintings.

If you can tear yourself away from the pictures, you'll find useful information on arranging flowers in European fashion as well as tips for choosing the appropriate vessel for displaying your arrangements. I found it particularly useful that Ms. Roehm identified each of the blooms used in her arrangements, as well as what time of year they are in season.

In my opinion, this is by far the best of Ms. Roehm's books, and if I had money to buy only one - this would be it!

What a Life!!!! A super divorce from the richest man on Wall Street, a new flat in the fabulous city of Paris and a new lease on life becoming a student of the greatest florist of the entire world.....the result, this incredible heavy tabletop book with the talent of the best of the photoghers money can buy. I have given this book as gifts for 10 years now and it has stood the test of time. I highly recommend it....also visit the Parisian Florist on your next trip to Europe. I travel there in May.....wanna go?

Just so lovely that my four year old granddaughter could not resist opening this book. Better still, she carefully turns the pages and studies each flower....now she gets flower lessons on each visit.

True passion begins early! Another flower lover is born!