Garden and social historian Advolly Richmond (of Gardener’s World ) unravels the surprising histories of 60 flowers that shape our gardens.

Very informative and well-constructed! I learned a lot!

I adored this book on flowers! The short stories about beautiful blooms were a perfect match for my passion. So glad I read it!

I'll suggest my florist offer copies for sale.

I'm about to get back into gardening when we move to our new house soon. Richmond's book reminded which plants and flowers I loved the most and would lilke to grow again.
The illustrations are stunning - I'd love to see cards, wrapping paper etc made with these images :-)

"A Short History of Flowers: The Stories That Make Our Gardens" by Advolly Richmond presents a captivating exploration of the botanical world, weaving together enchanting narratives that transcend time. The lush imagery throughout the book is truly breathtaking, evoking the splendor of each flower and the essence of nature's beauty. Richmond skillfully connects the flora of today to its historical significance, uncovering fascinating tales that add depth and intrigue to our understanding of these delicate blooms. From ancient myths to modern-day cultivation practices, each page blooms with the rich tapestry of floral history, making this book a delightful journey for both garden enthusiasts and history buffs alike.

Rating: 4* of five

I needed something uncomplicatedly pretty. I expect y’all do, too.

There. Springtime sorted. My blogged review contains uploaded images provided by the publisher to show the beautiful illustrations.

Of course, this being Reality, there are no uncomplicated pleasures. The stories of how your favorite flowers got to your garden is tied up with colonialism, capitalism, and the endless intertwining of greed and ownership between them.

Advolly Richmond does a far more deft job of making the connections than I have. She had a lot more room than I did.

The table of contents is like a really good garden’s plan, expansive and filled with beautiful sights. Richmond’s expertise is writing about the domesticated plants we adorn our built environment with, aka gardening. She has practiced the craft long enough to have honed her execution of it into art.

The fact that I myownself find the flower-gardening madness that so many of y’all suffer from inexplicable, and the money y’all lavish on it borderline obscene, does not mean I do not see and appreciate the beauty of the plants themselves.

I still think that the water, fertilizer, and hours of labor *should* be spent on growing vegetables.

A charming book. I love flowers and history so really enjoyed reading a book that combined them. Definitely recommend!

Both comprehensive and to-the-point, A Short History of Flowers is a fascinating compendium of our favourite blooms and their lesser-known histories. A perfect pick for garden lovers and historians alike, its unique and informative pages, filled with beautiful illustrations, would make the perfect addition or gift.
Its many short entries also make it an excellent coffee table or waiting room book, or something to read in smaller amounts in between work or transport.

I absolutely loved this book about flowers! I really enjoyed reading all those short stories about some of the most beautiful flowers you can find. I am passionate about flowers and it was totally a book for me! I am very happy to have read it!

A beautifully illustrated book referencing the origins and history of sixty different flowers. The author has done a great deal of research to able to explain why flowers have a certain name and why they became so popular. A gem of a book, this would make a delightful gift for any keen gardener. Many thanks to Net galley for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

This book is just beautiful. The anrt of the flowers is just beautiful. I feel like I could put them all in frames and give them as a present or make a memory wall from them. I would get this book as a coffee table book for an avid lover of flowers. Being able to see them and read what they are like was beautiful and brought back many memories. I like the little stories that go along with each flower and what kind of history they have.
Beautiful book!

Thank you to NetGalley for this wonderful ARC of flowers,🌸

Beautiful book! Flower histories are an auto-read for me and I love that I always come away with a new tidbit about my favorite flowers from books like this.

An absolutely enchanting read.

As an avid gardener, I have nostalgic memories with most of the flowers in this book, but I was enthralled to learn the backstories of their origins and meet the fearless explorers who took great risks to share their discoveries with the wider world at large.

Full of well-researched vignettes and gorgeous illustrations, I felt as though I'd stumbled into a hidden garden, rooted in history, intrigue and stunningly timeless beauty.

The illustrations for the flowers in this book are wonderfully rendered and actually useful. The little histories that accompany each flower were very insightful. I liked how the author made a point to highlight women's contributions to botany and the migrations of plants over the years. I do wish the author would have gone further and tried to include the local or native common names of the flowers. While the book is called 'A Short History of Flowers', it would have been more apt to call it 'A Short History of Flowers of the English Garden', since the book does center the British and European audience. The individual floral histories only begin at the time of their discovery by European explorers and often focus on how the flowers gained popularity in the West, as opposed to their significance elsewhere.
I still do appreciate books such as this that can take something as simple as a forgotten English Garden and weave a tale that loops in the Age of Exploration, Imperialism and Colonization, Royal family histories, the insider scoop of the gardening and botanist community, and much more.

I love the illustrations in the book. The descriptions and history of the flowers were very informative and I genuinely enjoyed reading this. It is a short read and I think people who love to know more information about flowers, this is the perfect book for them.

I love this book and would love to purchase for myself and my parents since they love flowers as well. I am learning so much about flowers and their history. I appreciated the author including an index so you can quickly see all the information on whatever flower you are interested in. Each flower has so many details from the scientific name down to where it was found and even who found it! I feel like I have a new favorite flower after reading the book!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book. I received a copy of the ebook in exchange for my honest review

I appreciated that out of the 60 flowers in this book, there were ones that I had never heard of. The various stories are interesting, some more than others. You can tell that the author did a lot of research for each flower. It’s a good pick-up book if you want a quick read - each story is only a few pages long. I found the stories of the Bougainvillea, English Bluebell, Poppy Anemone, and Bearded Iris the most memorable. The illustrations were nice, but I found that I wanted more from them.

An interesting look in flowers history perfect for anyone who is usually not a big non fiction reader. The details are kept short and easy to read which makes for a quite educational and productive reading experience. Overall I absolutely recommend as the historical facts chosen and the way they are written is easy to digest.

Growing up in small towns, we always had flowers all around. My mom and grandmothers always had plants and flower beds. This book was like taking a trip back to childhood. Learning a little about the history and folklore of some all to familiar plants and many new ones. Thank you Netgalley for this.

wow! this book is genuinely the definition of a passion project. when i tell people “i hope i find something that i care about enough that i would write a book about it,” THIS IS WHAT I MEAN! i found this book so charming and easy to understand. it was a quick, segmented read with every “chapter,” or description of each flower’s history, being only a page or two of text plus gorgeous illustrations of all of the flowers.

this book takes a deeper dive into the history of 60 well-known flowers, sharing the stories behind their rise to fame. some of these flowers have well-documented histories that go back thousands of years, others came up as recently as last year, and some remain clouded with a bit of uncertainty. the stories were so variable and constantly grabbed my attention. they included topics of discovery, species naming (there are a surprisingly large number of flowers named after people’s wives), royal families, art history, war, mythology, world travel, and more. my absolute favorite story was a short, but memorable one of a variant flower color that played the ultimate prank on a breeder by refusing to appear for him, but popping up randomly in the garden of an angry customer.

you may like this book if you enjoy books about
1.) nature
2.) botany
3.) history

thank you to NetGalley and Advolley Richmond for early access to this book, plus a huge kudos to Sarah Jane Humphrey for the beautiful illustrations. it was all very lovely :)

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

Includes historical and sometimes scientific information about a number of plants. I like that it includes both the updated and older full scientific names. Plus, the artwork is nice. Color illustrations of each flower are included as well as some simple supplementary illustrations to accompany the information.