Flora Domestica: A History of British Flower Arranging 1500-1930

For centuries people have been using flowers and plants to decorate their homes. In a lovely book that combines practical how-to advice with informative social history, Mary Rose Blacker details the use of flowers and plants in houses throughout Britain, Europe, and North America-from the delicate bouquets of the 16th century to the extravagant displays of the Victorian and Edwardian periods.

Just as recipes culled from old cookbooks provide a taste of the past, so flowers and plants enhance the authentic appearance of a period room. Stunning photographs of specially commissioned floral arrangements, shown in the houses and great estates preserved by Britain's National Trust, offer ideas and step-by-step instructions for arranging Elizabethan wedding bouquets, Georgian-style garlands, Victorian table decorations, and much more.

200 photographs, 165 in full color, 8 3/4 x 9 5/8"

MARY ROSE BLACKER has worked with Britain's National Trust for 30 years, and was research assistant to the noted architectural historian Gervase Jackson-Stops. Blacker, who grew up in Ireland and whose family includes such knowledgeable and well-known gardeners as Lady O'Neill of the Maine, was instrumental in re-creating the famous 18th-century flower displays at the Trust's Osterley Park in 1985.

ANDREAS VON EINSIEDEL is an acclaimed photographer of interiors whose work has appeared in such magazines as House & Garden and Architectural Design and in Abrams' Historic Interiors of England, Wales, and Northern Ireland.