Petal by Adriana Picker

Beth's Review:

Petal is truly a beautiful book. Sincerely, it is one of the most stunning flower illustration books I’ve ever seen. The colours are striking and the flowers feel like they are jumping off the page through Adriana’s illustration - some even appear translucent.

One thing is clear from the outset; Adriana is captivated by flowers. I am flawed by the sheer number of hours Adriana must have dedicated to drawing them in such detail and writing about their wide spanning backgrounds in such depth.

And her taste in flowers is impeccable. Only the most elegant, unusual, strikingly beautiful or interesting flowers are featured in this book, so you won't find any gerbera's here (cue: 99% of florists rejoicing!). She also shines a light on some of the lesser-known, normally short-lived garden flowers that don’t often appear in floral work.

With over two hundred flowers from twenty-seven plant families (and botanical names for each), this would be a very useful reference book for any florist to own, and I learned a lot from Adriana's separation of her illustrations into plant families - after years working as a florist I only jut learned that certain flowers were siblings thanks to this book!

But Petal is definitely not just for florists. Anyone who appreciates the natural world will adore turning these pages and absorbing the hundreds and hundreds of interesting flower facts, such as why Hydrangea changes colour and that a Magnola tree can live up to 100 years.

Publisher's Blurb: A compendium of floral wonder, Petal reveals the colours, details and unique sculptural beauty of nature's most remarkable creations. Botanical artist Adriana Picker has curated specimens from all over the world to celebrate through her stunning illustrations, accompanied by writer Nina Rousseau's words on the folklore, fame and meaning of both favourite blooms and herbaceous curiosities. Petal features over two hundred flowers from twenty-seven plant families, from elegant roses to otherworldly orchids and magnificent magnolias, as well as a dedicated chapter for unusual specimens.