Take it from us: a bunch of flowers for mum on Mother’s Day certainly beats the heated electric booties or personalised mug options.

But if you really want to spruce up your bouquet, why not add a beautiful book about flowers? What a perfect combo. 

Floret Farm’s A Year In Flowers

Erin Benzakein

Floret Flowers is a small family farm in Washington’s Skagit Valey iwhich specialises in growing uncommon and heirloom flowers.

From spring-flowering bulbs, to dahlias of every shade, Floret Farm was started as a backyard hobby in the early 2000s by Erin Benzakein and has grown to become a  massive harvesting, wholesaler and educational operation.

This is Benzakein’s second book about Floret. Her advice about planting, growing and arranging advice is accompanied by many sumptuous photos.

Petal

Adriana Picker

We’d resisted the early buzz on this collection of floral artwork until one day we had one customer inquiry, then another, and then another – all in the same afternoon.

Little wonder the word has spread about Australian-born illustrator Adriana Picker’s fourth book, a beautiful collection of floral images covering a vast range of flower varieties.

As she says in her introduction, this book “is a love letter to these ephemeral jewels of nature; a celebration of the floral world’’.

Roses

Jane Eastoe and Georgianna Lane

Keen gardeners will tell you growing roses is one of gardening’s most rewarding pursuits.

Roses can have their peccadillos and peculiarities, of course, but that’s what creates half the fun as you try and identify the problems and solutions.

Journalist Jane Eastoe and floral photographer Georgianna Lane have combined their talents to bring to life this beautiful little hardcover which includes a history of the rose, chapters on various varieties, planting, pruning, feeding, pests and diseases.

The Flower Expert

Fleur McHarg

Now in paperback, Melbourne florist Fleur McHarg’s The Flower Expert was a bestseller when it first arrived in bookstores in 2018.

Fleur identifies her “flower friends” – those blooms which have provided her with inspiration and ideas as she creates bouquets, table settings, event arrangements – and around each chapter she advises how best to highlight the beauty of each variety.

For stylists, florists and homemakers who love to create beautiful environments, this book is a must.

Corrie Perkin is a Melbourne journalist and bookseller whose Hawksburn shop is still open via mybookshop.com.au. My Bookshop is also taking book orders on 03 9824 2990 and offers free home delivery within 10kms of the shop.