Flora:An Illustrated History of the Garden Flower: An Illustrated

For hundreds of years, as Europe explored the world beyond its shores, intrepid adventurers, botanists and plant hunters sent back seeds and specimens of the thousands of flowers they came across on their travels. In Britain in particular, nursery-men and aristocratic garden lovers set about experimenting with each new influx of botanical material, to create the variety of garden flowers we know today. More than 300 artworks have been selected from the Royal Horticultural Society collection to illustrate Flora, with flowers arranged according to the region from where they were originally sourced, Europe, the Turkish Empire, Africa, Asia and Australasia and the Americas. A chapter is dedicated to each of these regions - opening with an essay on the significance of the area to the horticultural world, and unfolding with beautiful illustrations of the flowers originating there. All the major floral categories are included, as well as some fascinating rare varieties.