Revel in the rustic beauty of Nicolette Owen’s outdoor-inspired arrangements
Bringing Nature Home: Floral Arrangements Inspired by Nature is sublime and sophisticated. Everyday flowers in lovely interiors are freshly captured in photographs by Ngoc Minh Ngo. New York floral designer Nicolette Owen’s arrangements are a breathtaking mix of texture and nuanced color reminiscent of the world outdoors. The reader can only imagine the divine fragrance from these idyllic compositions.
Bringing Nature Home: Floral Arrangements Inspired by Nature by Ngoc Minh Ngo, Nicolette Owen, and Deborah Needleman; Rizzoli, 2012
Compelling and naturalistic arrangements, artfully photographed, are the heart of this book. For containers, there is nary a traditional crystal case in sight, but instead, wonderful ceramic vessels, antique compotes, and simple juice glasses. Imagine this beauty in the midst of summer: a heaping profusion of roses, peonies, coralbell foliage and flowers, honeysuckle vine, and scabiosas. In nature, all of these treasures are in bloom during the same season, and the combination of materials here is lush and abundant.
This graceful arrangement of peonies, scabiosas, and coralbell foliage and flowers seem to follow Constance Spry's classic advice to "let the flowers remind you of how they looked when growing."
Thoughtfully divided by the four seasons with particular entries on dahlias, peonies, chrysanthemums, hellebores, and more, Bringing Nature Home is informative and inspiring. Wise recommendations on caring for cut flowers and how to arrange them in a naturalistic fashion make this book as practical as it is lovely. I am so inspired by Owen’s artistry that I can hardly wait for my own antique roses to burst forth into their summer riot of bloom.
Floral designer Nicolette Owen combines soft garden roses and vibrant coral begonias for a dreamy summer bouquet.
