William Collins The Modern Flower Press: Preserving the Beauty of Nature

Absolutely stunning book but any naturalist or botanist will find the errors annoying - "herb Roberts" in place of herb Robert and "broad buckfern" in place of bucklerfern - many similar such basic errors make it look like noone who knows about wild plants checked the text - and misplaced scientifc names and repetition of myths that botanists have been trying to correct for ages e.g. hybridisation out of bluebells. The authors don't seem to realise their pressed bluebell is the hybrid yet also claim they know what plants they are picking.... Hum. The advice about collecting needed checking by a botanist as it's misleading (not from roundabouts but roadsides are ok? Yet both are owned by the local authority) and I am saddened that the authors felt it was fine to pick wild-growing snakeshead fritillary, one of our most endangered and rare wild flowers. The justification was that their picking made no impact on the visual scene. But there was an impact. Fewer flowers for insects. And fewer flowers successfully reproducing to expand the population. Removing flowers may encourage garden plants to bloom more but this is generally not the case for most perennial wild flowers. This book was a missed opportunity for some key advice from highly respected florists - the authors do care, and mention only picking 1 flower in 20, but frustratingly not where this is from, or the rest of the guidance in the Code of Conduct by the Botanical Society of Britain & Ireland and Natual England. Buglife gets a mention but not Plantlife?!? I think there needs to be more about learning plant ID and distribution to avoid picking declining species. So stunning book, great stories, but please check out the BSBI code if you are going to pick wild plants.

“When I get into the story of plants I know not how to get out” - a quote by Mary Duchess of Beaufort that pops up in this book and seems a fitting description for the experience of reading it ! A beautiful botanical reference book, exploring the legends, histories and poetry that form our understanding of flowers, peppered with anecdotal and entertaining facts whilst also celebrating the sheer loveliness of nature. Full of creative ideas for bringing pressed flowed into your own home from cabinetry to lampshades. Authored by one of the most inventive florists in the country. A book to inspire artists, makers, gardeners and dreamers alongside anyone who has ever stopped to admire wild flowers on a walk or wondered what stories from the shared library of mankind linger on about these most precious and wonderful of plants. What a lovely read !

This is a beautifully presented, informative and well illustrated book. I knew nothing about pressing flowers before and now I am inspired to start pressing my own flowers. It is full of creative ideas, many of them quite achievable for a non-creative person. The book is filled with well-written facts and stories about individual flowers. I will love and treasure this book and know that I will come back to it again and again.

I love this book, the photos and drawings are inspiring. I never thought I would like pressing flowers but this book has made me want to give it a go. I love the idea of the tiles and lampshades decorated with pressed flowers.

Great advice on pressing a variety of flowers and sourcing them.Details and beautiful photos of their projects are really inspiring.Lots of facts too about flowers and the history of pressing.It's a book I will keep and dip into.You will too.