In Bloom: Growing, Harvesting, and Arranging Homegrown Flowers All Year Round (CompanionHouse Books) Create a Cut Flower Garden and Make Colorful Bouquets with Annuals, Perennials, Shrubs, and Trees

I purchased this book after I read Floret Flower's feature on their blog, and I am glad I did. It's a fabulous book. SO many gorgeous pictures throughout the book that draw you in and make you want to live an enchanting flower-filled life. But it's more than stunning photography, there is a wealth of information on growing flowers. I especially appreciated the information covering the planning phase, because I struggle wrapping my head around planning everything all out. The first 50 pages cover basic topics like what makes a good cut flower, how to think about flowers as ingredients for bouquets, how to think and plan for all seasons, and tips for how to plan it all out. There is an amazing chart on page 40-41 of annuals, biennials, bulbs, perennials, shrubs, and trees what season they bloom in (early spring, mid spring, late spring, early summer, mid summer, late summer, early autumn, mid autumn, late autumn) then what type of bouquet ingredient it is (hero, supporting act, filler, foliage, sidekick) SO helpful for planning. Then the next 150 pages go in depth on many varieties of annuals, bulbs, perennials, foliage etc. Each spotlight gives a bit of information on each flower, spacing, pinching recommendations, when to harvest, how to give the flower the longest vase life, recommended varieties, and of course gorgeous photos. The last 50 pages of the book cover flower arranging, which to be honest I haven't delved into enough to report on, but it looks very good. Before I bought the book I was worried about the fact that Clare Nolan is located in the UK and I live in zone 8b of Texas. I didn't need to worry, 99% the information is still useful. There are a few types of flowers that aren't the easiest to grow here (Dahlias and Tulips I'm looking at you!) But honestly, most books have climate differences such as Erin Benzakein (Floret's Cut Flower Garden) being located in Washington or Lisa Ziegler (Cool Flowers) being located in Virginia and are still extremely useful books. You do need to know what type of flowers grow best in your area and when to plant them, so you might want to supplement this book with a regional book or website. My second worry I had before I bought this book was the fact that I own MANY flower books and I was worried this book wouldn't offer anything new. First, let me tell you, even if all the information was repetitive, the photos in this book make it worth the $ and space on your shelf. Second, I found PLENTY of new information and tips, it's one of my go-to reference books. To give you an idea, my favorite bits I found useful: page 37 illustrations on how to grow spring, summer, and autumn crops in the same plot, pages 42-42 overview of the flower grower's year, Flower spotlights for which flowers are cut and come again types, and which ones are one and done, which flowers need searing after cutting, and page 229 recipe to make your own flower food. My only regret is that I bought this book as a softcover and not hardback. I love this book so much that I will probably buy the hardback and gift a friend my softcover version.

This is a beautiful and inspiring book. Love the photography and all the helpful ideas. Lovely book for a coffee table.

I've recently bought about 30 books on flowers for work. This one, wow. It's incredible! Great information and stunning photography. I was reading it yesterday out in public and someone stopped and asked about it. It's that eye catching.

I got this book after reading Floret’s Cut Flower Garden. It’s a great companion and it’s a great standalone. The photography is great, and she adds lots of helpful tips on growing specific varieties and propagating them. She also gave lots of helpful information on arranging flowers. The only thing I didn’t love was that the cover is shiny and not matte, so it looks kind of weird as a coffee table book, though I did get the paperback so maybe the hardback is different.

This book is filled with absolutely stunning photography on top of essential and ingenious knowledge of growing favorite and lesser known varieties of cut flowers. Every time I open it I learn something knew, even though I’ve read it multiple times. There is also information on arranging. If I had to choose one book on flowers, it would be this one.

This book was a joy to read. It was almost like I was having a conversation with Clare. I was concerned that since I'm in the US, the floral recommendations wouldn't be relevant, but I was familiar with almost all of the plants discussed.

If you are an aspiring flower grower-this is a great book! Full of very useful info without being self-indulgent like some of the other books I have bought. It is not a coffee table book-it is a “put post it notes all over “ and write notes in the margins kinda book!!

This book was super helpful when planning out my cut garden this year. Makes for a gorgeous coffee table book as well.

I bought this book twice! The first time I had it for a week and the cover came off! This is my second copy and cover is worst! The pictures are the direct opening the package! As for the content of the book it’s great. Should I return this for the third time or keep it!

Von Clare Nolan habe ich auch "mein Wohnbuch" von 2012. Das ist eines meiner schönsten Bücher, das ich nach all den Jahren doch regelmäßig zur Hand nehme. Damals in der Buchhaltung war ich direkt schockverliebt. Also, "In Bloom" ist ebenfalls ein zauberhaftes Buch, das mich zu Beginn wegen seiner Fülle und Schönheit fast überfordert hat. Clare's Liebe für das, was sie tut, ist in jeder Zeile fühlbar. Sie stellt ihre Lieblinge im Garten genau vor und wie sie diese kultiviert. Genaue Texte und wunderschöne Fotos sind auf jeder einzelnen Seite zu finden. Besonders gut gefallen haben mir ihre Vorschläge, wie ein Blumenbeet angelegt werden kann. Und zwar für alle vier Jahreszeit. Das nenne ich gründlich! Ihre Blumensträuße und Gestecke gefallen mir ebenfalls sehr gut und sind sehr geschmackvoll. Bezugsquellen für Samen runden dieses Buch ab. Eins wird klar: Wer selbst gezogene Blume haben möchte, und zwar Rund um Jahr, ist sehr fleißig und beharrlich. Ein echtes Grundlagenwerk (auch wenn das nicht der Anspruch von Clare Nolan ist, da sie 'nur' ihre Lieblinge vorstellt, die gut in einem mittel-europäischen Garten wachsen). Und das auf ca. 270 Seiten! In deutscher Sprache gibt es derzeit, meiner Meinung nach, kein vergleichbares Buch.

Good variety of information for all levels of gardener

Vi dico la verità… se avessi visto qualche estratto in più di questo libro avrei preso direttamente la versione cartacea. Questo libro è una bibbia del giardinaggio, le foto sono splendide e sono davvero rimasta stupita dalla quantità di informazioni e dal numero di pagine per il costo che ha. Assolutamente consigliato in entrambe le versioni!!!

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