Product Description

Saying it with flowers becomes a creative pleasure when arrangements are as original as they are beautiful. In Flower Power, acclaimed author and flower expert Rebecca Cole explains how to create lush, hip, simple, and elegant arrangements to make any occasion memorable, from a dinner for two to a wedding attended by hundreds. Both exquisite and irreverent, her bouquets combine the classic with the quirky—sumptuous roses with crisp celery stalks, for example, or calla lilies with curly willow branches—and delight in the whimsical.

Rebecca’s step-by-step recipes and tips of the trade make it easy for anyone to re-create her inventive designs at home. She explains how to shop for the best blooms at a supermarket, farmers’ market, or corner deli and how to condition and prepare their stems for maximum longevity. She takes a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a florist and explores the international flower market.

Above all, Rebecca brings new life to the often predictable world of floral arrangements. Her Black Power bouquet combines black irises and black tulips with the brilliant green of euphorbia stems for a stunning effect, while a superb White Christmas bouquet consists of white amaryllis, narcissus, and ranunculus. She offers arrangements to suit a take-out Chinese dinner, a keep-up-the-good-work celebration for an office colleague, and a harvest party outdoors, as well as a Pepto-Bismol-pink get-well bouquet and an uncommon solution for using the most commonplace flowers. Filled with professional advice, helpful information, and nearly 400 gorgeous full-color photographs, Flower Power is an inspiring and refreshing guide to the art of flower arranging, certain to add wit, flair, and beauty to any occasion.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #482936 in Books
• Published on: 2002-11-19
• Released on: 2002-11-19
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 192 pages

About the Author
Rebecca Cole is a New York City garden, floral, and interior designer. She is the founder of Cole Creates, a retail and design business, and she appears regularly on television and radio shows and in print publications. The author of Potted Gardens and Paradise Found, she is a regular contributor on the Today show and has appeared on Oprah. Cole is also the star of the new Discovery Channel show Surprise by Design.

Helen Norman is a New York–based professional fashion photographer and avid gardener who lives on a
130-acre organic vegetable farm in Maryland.

Customer Reviews

Ho-Hum.....Hardly!
ANOTHER book on flower arranging? Ho-hum I thought. But wait, the author is Rebecca Cole, the charismatic and incredibly talented floral arranger and author. A relatively tired subject is made crystal clear and amazingly new by Rebecca. The book includes basic flower care advice, excellent instructions and photography, and makes you love flowers almost as much as the author. As with her two previous books, highly recommended for the visual enjoyment as well as the writing, to say nothing of the incredible ideas.

Flower Power Rocks
This is the third book I've read by Rebecca Cole and they just keep getting better. Rebecca's new book is filled with cool concepts and writing. She talks about creativity, encourages it, and uses refreshing--sometimes even irreverent--humor throughout the book. Flowers are not too precious for this designer and this reader appreciates all of the tongue in cheek. The flower arrangement results are sometimes whimsical and always stunning. Funny, smart, and beautifully photographed and designed, Rebecca's book is my current favorite gift item.

Wonderfully creative!

I don't know how she does it, but Rebecca Cole delights, amazes and inspires me again! Her third book contains arrangements from the whimsical to sassy and she breaks them down step-by-step, like a big floral arrangement cookbook. I have attempted the Checkerboard Flower Box (about half the size of the one in the book) and it lasted nearly two weeks, thanks to the wonderful conditioning tips. My other favorite section is the Welcoming Windows, about making the all important first impression. Throughout the book, Rebecca Cole shares personal stories from her childhood.

Helen Norman's photographs are breathtaking - sharp and colorful - and there are a LOT of them. This great book helps a lot during long, grey winter days until my own garden begins to bloom again.