Best Flower Arranging Books [Review]

No matter your profession, there is one truth that applies to knowledge and success. That rule is that the best way to become better and reach the pinnacle of your profession is to absorb knowledge as much as you can. When it comes to flower arrangement, one of the best ways to do that is to read the best books out there written by experts in the floral design industry.

However, without having read all the books that are available out there, it’s hard to know which ones are going to be useful and which ones are just background noise. We’ve reviewed a few of the best ones that the industry has to offer and that we think you could get the most value out of.

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BEST FLOWER ARRANGING BOOKS 2020

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Editorial Review

Whether you’re a beginner looking to break into the world of flower arranging or interested in it as a hobby, this would be a good book for you. It can teach you the simple concepts, methods, tips and tricks behind floral arrangements and what you need to do to get started with arranging flowers.

Whether you want to get started with floral arrangements to add to your home decor or you need to learn for a wedding, this book will teach you the basic concepts that you need to be familiar with in order to make that happen. This book contains more than 60 projects that you can do from the comfort of your own home with some florist supplies (see our review of the best flower arrangement supplies to find what you need).

Among the techniques that you’ll learn are hand-tying ribbons, using florist foam, experimenting with different vases, using glassware, using strings, and using ribbons as well.

What Others Are Saying

This is one of the most reputable pieces of literature on the market when it comes to instructional flower arranging books for beginners. As such, it has a great reputation, and people love it. While people fully acknowledge how helpful it is for beginners to learn from, the most praise comes for the number of ideas that this book contains and how it can give anyone inspiration who is struggling to get started.

Almost everyone who has read this book agrees that it’s the most helpful compilation of information available for those who are looking to get into flower arranging and need some helpful advice to get them started.

Editorial Review

This generous book from Erin and Chris Benzakein tells you everything you need to know to arrange beautiful pieces in harmony with the seasons. Erin details the fundamentals of design and color, as well as techniques for bouquets and other pieces that are staples of the florist’s craft. She also includes a section on flower arranging basics, from tools and equipment to sourcing the finest blooms to caring for your flowers.

The arrangements are inspired. They go well beyond conventional floral offerings to offer ideas for beautiful, locally sourced floral art that makes the most of what’s in season. Posies, bouquets, corsages, wreaths – A Year in Flowers features instructive guides to creating sought-after pieces for all occasions. The A-Z guide to ingredients offers a ton of information about a wide array of flowers. Straightforward enough for beginners but interesting enough for experienced florists, there’s something to keep everyone’s attention in these pages.

What Others Are Saying

This book is almost universally beloved. Readers praised the clear layout and the easy-to-follow instructions for creating the arrangements. They found the wealth of information incredibly helpful and especially appreciated its attention to the ergonomics of flower arranging.

The real stars of the show here, of course, are the flower arranging projects. Readers raved about the way A Year in Flowers takes florists through the seasons, offering practical inspiration for creating beautiful pieces throughout the year. Many reviewers commented that the book, with its stunning photographs, had made them even more excited about their gardens this year.

Some readers thought that the book used so many images that it sacrificed a bit of substance. Most, however, appreciated the number of images and felt the pictures helped them at each stage of the project.

Editorial Review

One of the most important aspects of any wedding is the flower arrangements. They’re going to be in permanent photos, and as such, you want them to look as good as they can be. However, if you’re not the most creative mind, this can certainly be a challenge.

Finding the right colors can be a struggle, and if you lack vision, this book would be a good inspiration for you. It has a lot of good information about trending colors, and great ideas for color schemes for the flowers at your wedding. If you’re at a complete loss, you should definitely start here to get the ideas rolling.

What Others Are Saying

The most common praise for this book is that it contains great ideas and is very helpful for those who are stuck and don’t know where to start. Even if you don’t end up using one of the exact designs in this book, you might end up benefiting from it anyways by learning how to make bouquets and other arrangements for your wedding.

This should be considered a must-have for the new bride or floral professional who is putting together arrangements for a wedding.

Editorial Review

Floral Tributes serves a definite need in the area of floral design books. Exclusively about floral arrangements for memorial services, this book is an excellent reference for those starting out in the floral industry or for those who want to easily show their clients a range of possible options. The book is arranged by color palette, with a final chapter on the significance of floral tributes for lost loved ones.

It covers a wide range of possible tributes, from wreaths and vase arrangements to more elaborate casket sprays and arrangements for cremation containers. Floral Tributes also offers suggestions that florists can make to clients about incorporating keepsakes and personalizing the floral pieces. This is a specific and helpful guide to have on hand during difficult times. Florists can use it to let their clients explore design choices and choose the flowers that are the right fit for them.

What Others Are Saying

Reviewers recommend this book for any florist who needs to help mourners make difficult decisions about memorial arrangements. Readers loved the clear photographs and felt they made it easier for those choosing sympathy flowers to pick an arrangement that felt right. The layout was also frequently praised as being helpful for clients.

Reviewers noted that organizing the choices by color helped keep clients who are planning floral arrangements from feeling overwhelmed. It’s generally thought of as a good reference book and a good book to turn to for inspiration for modern designs.

Editorial Review

Shozo Sato’s updated Ikebana: The Art of Arranging Flowers takes readers through the history of this floral art before introducing them to the basics of Ikebana philosophy and practice. With sections on style, techniques and plant symbolism, this book is an excellent introduction to the form. The wealth of detailed information about design makes this book useful for all florists, even those who don’t plan on incorporating Ikebana into their daily work.

Those who are interested in Ikebana not just for its aesthetics but for its cultural significance and its artistry will find this a fascinating read. Practical information is set in a larger context of the principles of Ikebana, past and present.

As you might expect, there’s a lot of detailed discussion of technique, composition and materials, but the ideas are always grounded in larger ideas about nature and art. Excellent diagrams and photography makes the explanations even clearer and offers inspiration for novices and experts.

What Others Are Saying

Ikebana: The Art of Arranging Flowers gets a lot of praise for its balance of inspiration and instruction. Readers frequently comment that it’s thorough, detailed and specific, while still being gorgeous enough for a coffee table book. People generally find it easy to read. They often report that the cultural history the book offers is as interesting as the designs themselves.

A few readers did find the information to be a lot for beginners to take in. Mostly, though, readers thought of this as a reference book they could turn to again and again to deepen their understanding of the concepts. Reviewers note that the book offers examples of common mistakes and things to avoid, which they especially appreciated.

Editorial Review

From Kiana Underwood and photographer Nathan Underwood comes this fantastic guide to designing monochromatic pieces for all occasions. Color Me Floral is arranged by season and subdivided by color, so designers can quickly find what they’re looking for or browse through for design inspiration. The book offers a thoughtful introduction on design principles, tools and sourcing, but the real attractions are the designs themselves.

The approach to design, being so much more about color than about the type or amount of flowers used, is original and makes for gorgeous and unconventional arrangements. Specific recipes with step-by-step instructions makes this book a great resource for beginners as well as for experienced florists looking for a new take on arranging.

The photographs are clear and offer solid, straightforward visuals for those readers who learn more from seeing arrangements than from having arrangements described to them.

What Others Are Saying

Reviewers loved how beautiful this book was and frequently commented that they had turned it into a coffee table book because it was too lovely for their shelves. The book is especially popular among those who love asymmetrical, romantic designs. Most reviewers found Color Me Floral to be helpful as well as beautiful. They found the recipes easy to follow and the designs inspiring.

Reviewers appreciated that there were levels to the designs, i.e. that Kiana offered modifications for more complex designs, so that beginners could attempt a more simplified version that still looked great.

The occasional reviewer wanted more theory from the book and felt the recipes didn’t give them enough information about why the materials were chosen or arranged in the way they were. Many readers thought the arrangements were boring and wished for more variety.

Editorial Review

In Foraged Flora, Louesa Roebuck and Sarah Lonsdale make a strong case for the virtues and beauty of using only local materials. There’s a strong philosophical grounding to this gorgeous book, and its authors advocate sustainable sourcing and attention to local ecosystems at every turn. The photography, by Laurie Frankel, is stunning.

The book is divided into twelve sections, with each section including designs and insights into the plants used. Intertwined with more practical suggestions are discussions and personal reflections on materials and techniques, all of which are highly interesting in their own right.

Images dominate this book, so if you’re looking for something that’s designed to give full, detailed, step by step instructions for specific projects, this might not be the design book for you. Foraged Flora does offer guidance on color selection and composition, however, and there’s a lot of information about foraging itself. If you’re looking for design inspiration, this book will make a fantastic addition to your coffee table or bookshelf.

What Others Are Saying

Most readers praised the visual pleasures of this book. Reviewers tended to think of it as much as a coffee table book as a reference work for their craft. “Beautiful” was the most common adjective applied to this book. Readers appreciated the non-traditional approach the authors took to floristry, praising the unexpected and less cultivated looks of the arrangements. People with an interest in sustainable foraging found this book to be a revelation.

Some readers didn’t love the eclectic format. They felt the mix of memoir, recipes, interviews and techniques didn’t give them a solid handle on how they should approach the practical aspects of floral arranging. The photography didn’t work for some readers, who thought the photos were simply too blurry to get a good sense of what some of the arrangements looked like.

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BEST FLOWER ARRANGING BOOKS BUYING GUIDE

When you’re buying a book to walk you through some of the concepts in floral arrangements, there are a few things that you’re going to want to know beforehand. First off, you should make sure that whichever book you purchase is going to cover the topics that you need to learn about. Take the time to know what the book is about and what knowledge is included, and you won’t have to waste your time or money on information that you don’t need or can’t use. The other thing that you should keep in mind is the skill level of the book.

While some books are friendly to all readers of all skill levels, others are going to dive into advanced topics that you might not be ready for. Be sure to have an understanding of the skill level of your selected book and make sure that it aligns with your comprehension skills in floral arrangements.

Image credit: Jessica Lewis