Double Flowers: The Remarkable Story of Extra-Petalled Blooms

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Description

A brilliantly readable account of double flowers, exploring everything from their many varieties to their biological development, their long history in our gardens and the powerful emotional responses they elicit. This supremely researched book will leave you appreciating double flowers as never before. - Stephen Blackmore, Queen's Botanist and former Regius Keeper of the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh As long as there are plants and gardens, there will be plant enthusiasts who will be unable to resist what Margery Fish in A Flower for Every Day called 'the charm of the unusual' and who will want to grow variations, rarities and oddities, including double flowers. Double flowers are simply flowers with a greater than normal number of petals or petal-like structures. They can occur spontaneously in the wild or can be selected and bred by humans. In this beautifully illustrated book - begun by bestselling garden writer Nicola Ferguson before her death in 2007 and completed by her friend, the writer, lecturer and photographer Charles Quest-Ritson - the author celebrates some of the many thousands of double-flowered 'new varieties' produced throughout history. She discusses how they have arisen; how they are constructed; how and where they will flourish; the particular charms, the advantages and disadvantages of such varieties (for gardeners, flower-arrangers and pollinators alike).

Reviews

"It's rare that there's a book you can be sure any gardener would be delighted to be given for Christmas - but this year there's a clear winner. Double Flowers is both erudite and seductively readable, comparable to the writings of Christopher Lloyd - and there simply hasn't been a book on the subject before. Handsomely illustrated, Double Flowers makes irresistible browsing and will have all its readers planning to use them in the year ahead." -- David Sexton * Evening Standard Gardening Books of the Year *
"Scholarly and fascinating." -- Rachel de Thame * Sunday Times - Gardening Book of the Year *
"This is a book that will help readers to formulate ideas about which plants to choose for different areas of their gardens - valuable both to keen amateur gardeners and designers." * The Garden *
"Well-observed and superbly illustrated." * Country Life *
"Elegantly written and most readable." * The Irish Garden *
"A wonderful book that explores the history and origins of the transformative quirk of nature that is double flowers. This lovely book is a joy to read, it is packed with fascinating information and anecdotes and deeply learned, though written with a light touch. Filled with superb illustrations...this book is also a valuable practical guide for the gardener." * Garden Heaven *
"The integrity of this book lies in its erudition...Nicola Ferguson was a passionate researcher and in this her great skill is evident." * The English Garden *
"Accessible and superbly illustrated...This exquisitely produced book is both a go-to gardener's reference and a moving floral tribute." * The Lady *
"Probably the most concise and informative study of double flowers ever...the writing is fluid and lively, never stodgy, and the text flows seamlessly from one subject to the next." * Gardens Illustrated *

Author Bio

Nicola Ferguson (1949-2007) was a bestselling garden writer. Her first book Right Plant, Right Place (published by Macmillan in 1984, later by Pan and Cassell in the UK and by Simon and Schuster in the US) sold more than 460,000 copies worldwide. A second bestseller, Take Two Plants (David & Charles) followed in 1998. Charles Quest-Ritson is the author of many books on gardens and gardening, including Ninfa: the Most Romantic Garden in the World (Frances Lincoln, 2009) the RHS Encyclopaedia of Roses (Dorling Kindersley, 2011) and Gardens of Germany (Mitchell Beazley, 1998). Charles Quest-Ritson lives in Hampshire and Normandy. Charles Quest-Ritson is the author of many books on gardens and gardening, including Ninfa: the Most Romantic Garden in the World (Frances Lincoln, 2009) the RHS Encyclopaedia of Roses (Dorling Kindersley, 2011) and Gardens of Germany (Mitchell Beazley, 1998). Charles Quest-Ritson lives in Hampshire and Normandy.