A comprehensive and sumptuous survey that celebrates the beauty and appeal of flowers throughout art, history, and culture The latest installment in the bestselling Explorer Series takes readers on a journey across continents and cultures to discover the endless ways artists and image-makers have employed floral motifs throughout history. Showcasing the diversity of blooms from all over the world, Flower spans a wide range of styles and media - from art, botanical illustrations, and sculptures to floral arrangements, film stills, and textiles - and follows a visually stunning sequence with works, regardless of period, thoughtfully paired to allow interesting and revealing juxtapositions between them.

Even now, when modern technology has made information so easy to exchange, some words are still hard to say. In this book, Shane Connolly examines the language of flowers in the context of love - that most tricky and subtle of emotions. Using a selection of over fifty gorgeous plants, Shane demonstrates how flowers, whether as single stems or as part of an arrangement, can reveal what our lovestruck, lovelorn or love-renewed selves are too wary or tongue-tied to express. Over eight practical projects, including simple wild strawberry wedding buttonholes and a biodegradable funeral arrangement, communicate their own exclusive and personal message.