Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style

This review is from Jane Barber, as she doesn’t have an account. Every so often a book comes along that has a profound impact on my life. Years ago I read “The Colour of Heaven” a novel by James Runcie, in it a painter is searching for the perfect ultramarine blue. The book made me fall in love with Venice, it’s artists and artisans. In 1995 I was given “The New Floral Artist” by Paula Pryke. That book made me want to be a florist. Fast forward 25 years later and “Cultivated” makes me want to be a better florist. One with a conscience, one with a deep connection to the natural landscape and what it gifts us. Reading Christin’s text is like talking to a kindred spirit. She’s an inspiring, generous, knowledgeable and amusing writer. But she’s not just a writer, she’s a storyteller. Like all good storytellers she draws us in so we want to know more. I like how she refers to historical style and design and also tells her own flower story. I like that she is not a ‘flower snob’ , allowing statice, begonia leaves and even thing’s ‘on the turn’ to be noticed alongside their prettier vase mates! The photographs in this book are spectacular and need to be looked at again and again to be fully appreciated. I feel like this is probably the wrong adjective to use, in view of the world’s current events, but this book is simply breathtaking! Jane Barber. Florist.

As a flower photographer I can only describe Christin’s ‘Cultivated’ as a delicious tome. A fabulous journey through colour, form and beauty. I have been following Christin’s images on Instagram for a while and have fallen in love with her compositions. Cultivated is inspirational and will now become a permanent companion. Thank you

I love the way Christin writes, her style is engaging, captivating and actually useful. The pictures are beautifully shot and the illustrations are lovely too. So many floristry books are pretty, this one is more than that, it has real substance and style. I shall be recommending it to absolutely everyone.

i am to devour all the knowledge in this book to enhance my photography shooting flowers the old painting dutch way! thanks for creating this wonderful book christin geall:))) alice

Loved every page of this book, delves deep into not only how to do the flowers, but why we do the flowers, each picture is deserving of being framed and hung in a wall, so many useful techniques, I would say this is a must have from total beginners to experienced florists, can’t recommend it enough, well done Christin, it’s a triumph 👏👏

Cultivated is a joyful vision of floral design that is deeply personal and intensely relational to people, plants and places. Drawing on wide-ranging experience, knowledge and research, Christin Geall has forged her own way in this powerful demonstration that flowers do not simply appear in the market or vase or garden, and that floral aesthetics are never a neutral space. The promised ‘elements of floral design’ does (as one might expect) include technical instructions and a great deal of inspiration, but also environmental sensitivity, art and garden history, botany and horticulture, colour theory, reflections on the design process and personal memories. Taken together this unusually diverse spread is a versatile and well-balanced feast for the eyes and the mind, at once densely rich and surprisingly light. This is true of the direct and engagingly honest prose, with its lyrical tendrils and flashes of wit, as much as of the beautifully photographed portrait-like arrangements with their extraordinary grasp of different of styles, colours, and materials. It was delightful, informative, useful and thought-provoking at the first read, as I’m sure it will be on the tenth.

If you are looking for the contradictory opinions of a privileged author, buy this book. I have no idea who the intended audience is meant to be. Perhaps, if you are seeking a collection of hypocritical stances, this could be the book for you? The author opines from her lofty tower, telling readers to grow their own flowers - yet provides no advice on how to actually do so. She employs circumlocution regarding her own floral arrangements but lacks the generosity to share the process with the reader. She seems desperate to appear as a profound thinker, yet offers no ladder or pathway to help anyone but herself. The pages are rife with hypocrisy: she insists that one must never buy flowers and must grow their own, and that one should never use floral foam - for the sake of the planet, naturally - yet on the next page she admits to hopping on a plane every six weeks because she loves to travel. How can she expect to be taken seriously? If you want to learn floral design, this is not the book for you.

Ein ungewöhnlich schönes Buch mit traumhaften Fotos von wunderschönen und modernen Blumenarrangements. Außergewöhnlich gut auch durch die behandelten Themen, die alle möglichen Aspekte eines Blumenarrangements ansprechen: u.a. Farbtheorie, verschiedene Farbpaletten, Konstraste, Form, Rhythmus, Wiederholung, Stile verschiedener Epochen, Design, Fotografie, Beschaffung, Pflege ... FAZIT: Ein optischer und intellektueller Genuss!

Es un libro muy útil para quienes estamos interesados en aprender sobre los principios y elementos del diseño floral. Muy recomendado.

As so many other reviewers have written, this is a wonderful book. Rarely does a floral-inspired book include outstanding writing, valuable information, interesting musings, and gorgeous photographs. Christin is a gifted writer, a talented floral designer, and an accomplished gardener. This book is a beautiful collection of her talents. She teaches about color theory, art history, photography, floral design, and more. I joined 4 other floral designers in reading this book (re-reading in my case) together for an impromptu book club. It is well-organized with interesting narrative and lessons. We could have spent weeks discussing Part Three, Thinking About Color and we poured over the section on Vessels. Our group enjoyed the book immensely and learned so much. We all have our fingers crossed that Christin will write another book soon!

Pensavo fosse un libro sui fiori con bellissime foto di composizioni. Invece è un interessante racconto su come nasce una composizione raccontato da una fotografa con dettagli e consigli sulla scelta dei colori delle forme delle luci dei fiori... niente, niente è casuale.

My copy of Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style just arrived this afternoon. I love it! The book is lovely in so many ways: the photographs are gorgeous, the writing is informative yet intimate and the book itself is beautiful. Christin Geall's book isn't just about flower arranging (though lovers of that craft will be especially well served) it is also about creativity and how to bring beauty and nature into our lives -- told in fascinating short essays inspired by art, history, color theory and even mathematics. And along the way author takes us into her delightful, unpredictable personal journey to becoming an international leader in floral design. I highly recommend this book that is beautiful in many ways.