On Flowers : Lessons from an Accidental Florist

Named a Best Gift Book of the Year by InStyle , Real Simple , Better Homes & Gardens , and the Wall Street Journal “If coffee tables could make . . . wish lists, [this book] would certainly be on them.” — Better Homes & Gardens A singular, personal celebration of the beauty and possibilities of nature Amy Merrick is a rare and special kind of artist who uses flowers to help us see the familiar in a completely new way. Her gift is to revel in the unexpected—like a sunny spring arrangement housed in a paper coffee cup—and to overturn preconceptions, whether she’s transforming a bouquet of supermarket carnations into a breathtaking centerpiece or elevating wild and weedy blooms foraged from city sidewalks. She uses the beauty that is waiting to be discovered all around us—in leaves, branches, seedpods, a fallen blossom—to tell a story of time and place. Merrick begins On Flowers with a primer containing all her hard-won secrets on the art of flower arranging, from selecting materials to mastering pleasing proportions. Then she brings readers along on her journey, with observations on flowers in New York City and at her family’s summer home in rural New Hampshire, working on a flower farm off the coast of Washington State, and studying ikebana in a jewel-box flower shop in Kyoto. We learn how to send flowers like a florist, and how to arrange them like a farm girl. We discover the poignancy in humble wildflowers, and also celebrate the luxury of fragrant blousy blooms. Collected here is an anthology of floral inspiration, a love letter to nature by an exceptional, accidental florist. Amy Merrick began her life on a family farm in the countryside; became a darling of the design world, working out of her small Brooklyn floral studio, arranging flowers at the Met and collaborating with brands like Kinfolk and Rifle Paper Company; then gave it all up to travel and teach her style of wild, natural flower arranging all over the world, from chAteaus in France to villages in Morocco, high-rises in China to ancient temples in Kyoto. Now, in her first book, she distills all that she's experienced, teaching readers to really see the natural beauty that is all around them-whether a bunch of brightly colored carnations from the corner bodega or a single lucky four-leaf clover-and how to use it to create simple arrangements that celebrate the unique qualities of whatever space, mood, and season they are in. Merrick begins with a primer on flower arranging, from selecting your blooms to creating pleasing proportions, before moving into the heart of the book-five eclectic chapters that follow her personal journey: City Things, Country Things, Fancy Things, Humble Things, and Faraway Things. Each chapter features dozens of beautiful blooms, reflections on topics ranging from the exquisite pleasure of heritage roses to museums well suited for flower lovers, and tips and tricks for creating your own stunning arrangements. It all adds up to an incredibly informative, deeply personal, visually lush treasure trove of a book A one-of-a-kind journey into the mind of beloved floral designer Amy Merrick, celebrating the beauty and possibilities of nature and how to use it to create elegant, ephemeral arrangements.