A fantastic floral adventure and the latest sensational coloring book from bestselling artist Johanna Basford This book invites you to travel the world and beyond into fantastical realms, discovering exotic blooms and extraordinary plants along the way. From floating gardens of water poppies in South Africa to delicate cosmos in Japan, and from fanciful toadstools to enchanted fairytale gardens, an abundance of fascinating florals awaits, ready for you to bring to life in color. Join “colorist queen” (New York Magazine) Johanna Basford on a dazzling floral adventure of fantasy and imagination, filled with countless new blooms and blossoms to discover. Beautiful and interactive, World of Flowers is a blissful and relaxing at-home activity for people of all ages.

A leading botanist and popular science writer examines the crucial role flowers have played in life's evolutionary scheme as a fundamental energy resource for most of the biosphere.

**SHORTLISTED FOR THE GARDEN MEDIA AWARDS, INSPIRATIONAL BOOK OF THE YEAR** The lotus, lily, sunflower, opium poppy, rose, tulip and orchid. Seven flowers: seven stories full of surprise and secrets. Where and when did these flowers originate? What is the nature of their power and how was it acquired? What use has been made of them in gardens, literature and art? These are both histories and detective stories, full of incident, unexpected revelations, and irony. The opium poppy, for example, returned to haunt its progenitors in the West; and while Confucius saw virtue and modesty in his native orchids, the ancient Greeks saw only sex. These are flowers of life and death; of purity and passion; of greed, envy and virtue; of hope and consolation; of the beauty that drives men wild. All seven demonstrate the enduring ability of flowers to speak metaphorically - if we could only decode what they have to say.

This graceful essay on the pivotal role of flowers in human evolution is certain to delight those readers already familiar with Loren Eiseley and to find an audience among naturalists, gardeners, and lovers of flowers everywhere. Gerald Ackerman's color floral portraits provide a visual counterpoint to the wondrous text. Two-color text & printed endpapers. 19 color photos.

The natural beauty of flowers has been celebrated by writers, poets and artists for hundreds of years. In this collection of exquisite images by award-winning photographer Clive Nichols, flowers are shown in all their glory, from the delicately flared petals of a crocus to the close-packed velvety whorls of a red rose; and from the intricate markings of an orchid to the kaleidoscope-like symmetry of wild borage. In these photographs, where every bloom is treated as a work of art, the tiniest details are brought into wonderful clarity, displaying an astonishing variety of structure, texture and colour. Concise, insightful texts by No�l Kingsbury complement the images, providing botanical, historical and ecological information on each flower. This beautiful yet informative book is ideal for lovers of photography and of the natural world.

"A complete reference for growers and florists"--Cover.