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Saying it with flowers becomes a creative pleasure when arrangements are as original as they are beautiful. In Flower Power, acclaimed author and flower expert Rebecca Cole explains how to create lush, hip, simple, and elegant arrangements to make any occasion memorable, from a dinner for two to a wedding attended by hundreds. Both exquisite and irreverent, her bouquets combine the classic with the quirky—sumptuous roses with crisp celery stalks, for example, or calla lilies with curly willow branches—and delight in the whimsical.

Rebecca’s step-by-step recipes and tips of the trade make it easy for anyone to re-create her inventive designs at home. She explains how to shop for the best blooms at a supermarket, farmers’ market, or corner deli and how to condition and prepare their stems for maximum longevity. She takes a behind-the-scenes look at the life of a florist and explores the international flower market.

Above all, Rebecca brings new life to the often predictable world of floral arrangements. Her Black Power bouquet combines black irises and black tulips with the brilliant green of euphorbia stems for a stunning effect, while a superb White Christmas bouquet consists of white amaryllis, narcissus, and ranunculus. She offers arrangements to suit a take-out Chinese dinner, a keep-up-the-good-work celebration for an office colleague, and a harvest party outdoors, as well as a Pepto-Bismol-pink get-well bouquet and an uncommon solution for using the most commonplace flowers. Filled with professional advice, helpful information, and nearly 400 gorgeous full-color photographs, Flower Power is an inspiring and refreshing guide to the art of flower arranging, certain to add wit, flair, and beauty to any occasion.