Orchids - Hardcover

Appell, Scott

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1567997732 ISBN 13: 9781567997736

Publisher: Friedman, 2000

Synopsis

Celebrate the exotic beauty of these long-cherished flowers! The next-best thing to having pots and greenhouses filled with fragrant orchids is this oversize and lush volume devoted solely to the species' abundant variety. Spectacular photography captures their silky petals, extraordinary colors, and extravagant forms. Lyrical verses drawn from diverse sources--ranging from the Bible to the plays of Shakespeare--accompany the images and exalt the flower. A lively introduction traces its history and culture, detailing its appearance in art and literature and offering insights into the passion orchids always arouse. Whether as a gift for someone special, or as an irresistible self-indulgence, this will surely be treasured by orchid lovers everywhere!

About this title

About the Author

Scott D. Appell is Director of Education for the Horticultural Society of New York, as well as a writer and lecturer. He has contributed to a number of gardening books, including the introductions for Lilies and Tulips.

Darcy Kane is a New York City-based photographer whose work appears regularly in magazines such as Garden Design, Country Gardens, and Family Circle, as well as in many books: Sanctuary: Gardening for the Soul features her photographs exclusively. Her fine art black-and-white pictures are in the permanent collections of many museums, including the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, the Boston Museum of Fine Arts, and the New Orleans Museum of Art.

Reviews

Mae West's pithy pronouncement, "Too much of a good thing can be wonderful," is one of the many quotations, including more poetic passages, that accompany a multitude of Kane's opulent photographs in a winning combination of text and image that proclaims and celebrates the intriguing radiance of orchids. Certainly the extra large format contributes to the mesmerizing impact of this volume, but the exotic flower forms that constitute the orchid family arguably reign as the most bewitching of all blooms. Scott Appell's introduction, a good read, intertwines the historical with the botanical and touches on the suggestive power of the orchid, but fervent fans of vividly colored, sublimely sculpted orchids will simply get lost in the breathtaking beauty captured by Kane's camera. Consider this dazzling ode to orchids the ultimate coffee-table flower book! Alice Joyce
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Friedman
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1567997732
• ISBN 13: 9781567997736
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 176