Helen Gibb has once again prepared a book that not only teaches the art of ribbonwork, but is an eye appealing treasure, blending directions for creating ribbonwork pieces of today with those of the past. Beautiful examples of past treasures have been painstakingly arranged and photographed. The book is enjoyable to peruse just to marvel at the beautiful antique pieces she displays. Her love of the antique handwork is evident and her work is tasteful and eye appealing. Helen's first ribbonwork book was beautiful and her new book is another example of her high quality and standard.

I have been pouring over this book ever since I received my autographed copy. This book is a must for anyone interested in silk ribbon embroidery or silk ribbon embellishment. Not only are the instructions clear and concise, but the book is dripping with photos of vintage and modern works alike. The variety of projects is sure to meet everyone's needs, with the photos providing endless ideas for using the techniques. Helen has created a masterpiece in this book.

This book is really one of the best I have read about ribbon work. I do have Helen's other book on Ribbon Flowers also.Just could not wait for her Ribbonwork. I looked it over cover to cover and want to make everything in the book.She has a wide variety of heirlooms to make and they are fantastic. I love the Victorian era and this book is truly inspirational.Helen's teaching certainly makes it easy to make heirlooms as a gift or for yourself. They are absolutely magnificent!

What a delightful book! Each tale is told in the space of one or two pages with economy and grace. The beautiful illustrations complement the stories - the color and design is bold and arresting. This is one of those marvelous books that the adults will want to read over and over - and that the children will clamor to hear again.

Patricia Hruby Powell's Blossom Tales is a wonderful picturebook anthology filled with short one-page or two-page folk stories from around the world; each story involving a flower in one way or another. The superbly presented color illustrations by Sarah Dillard add life and vigor to these classic folklore and fairytale stories. Blossom Tales is a wonderful multicultural anthology for young readers, filled with variety, color, and life.

A collection of 14 folktales from across the globe, BLOSSOM TALES relates wondrous legends about flowers. These tales relate the origin of flowers, or how and why they are used as they are. Always respectful of the culture they describe, the tales are filled with magic and whimsy.

Author Patricia Hruby Powell is an award-winning storyteller and community arts specialist, bringing her love of drama and storytelling to the written page in this collection that children will ask to be read again and again. This is illustrator Sarah Dillard's first children's book, but the beauty of the illustrations will leave readers hoping to see more of her marvelous talent.

Dragons, dwarves, soldiers and fairies bring a touch of the unexpected to BLOSSOM TALES, resulting in tales that will delight young readers with its evocative stories. Parents will enjoy the flow of the narrative that makes for perfect reading aloud before bedtime. A collection that will delight flower lovers of all ages, BLOSSOM TALES comes very highly recommended.

I have found this book very inspiring. The pictures are great and the text is full of practical knowledge. Although I am from another zone (Zone 9) I found that the guidelines, the concept in the designs, are so well described that is easy for anyone to adapt them to their own zone. It is not a book for "just copying designs" but to learn how to manage color, texture, scale and develop you own creativity.

I loved this book- it had beautiful photographs and good descriptions of the plants used. It was helpful to have the seasons and preferred exposure of the plants included in their description. There are also several good sample garden plans. My only disappointment (if it can be so considered) was that many of the featured plants are not hardy in my zone 4 garden (Ms. Raven's garden is in Britain).For anyone who loves contrast in their gardens, this is the book to inspire you!

Are you afraid of too much color in your garden? Do you fall into the trap of conventional landscaping rules of lumping similar colors with each other? Then, take a bold step and challenge your visual senses. The Bold and Brilliant Garden is an invaluable addition to any gardening library. Sarah Raven presents the use of beautiful color combinations in a very naturalistic manner. She outlines the use of different types of plants and color combinations, and she supplies us with a wealth of vibrant color photographs.

If you love stories set in a historical background with fictional characters - you'll love this. It's the story of three very different women from different backgrounds during the First World War. The writing is so eloquent and descriptive that I was living the book as I read it. I could sense the horror of the trenches, smell the awful trench smells, feel sadness, happiness, desolation, all sorts of emotions that the characters were expressing. The flow of narration kept me hooked until the very last page. Sarah Harrison has created unforgettable characters, so much so that at the end of the book I wanted to know what happened to them next. Fortunately, Sarah wrote a sequel "A Flower That's Free" (just as good). I first read "The Flowers of the Field" after graduating High school in 1980 and have read it numerous times over the years. The story still makes me cry in the same places and gasp at the graphic depictions of what WW1 was like for those fighting it. I have to say it is one of the best books I have ever had the pleasure to read!

For someone just getting involved with orchids, or for someone who would like a different perspective, this book is perfect. High quality photos on glossy paper make this book a pleasure to read! I felt that it could have expanded a bit more on the subject of home growing, yet it is highly informative at a great price!

This book is great to read just before spring arrives. It has wonderful pictures that even the youngest reader can enjoy and talk about. The book is well written and captures the joy and suspense of "when Spring will arrive." Anyone who has ever felt "spring fever" will appreciate this book.

I bought this book for myself after I discovered a hidden love of flower gardening. The photos are so colorful and beautiful and they've really helped me choose which flowers to add to my garden this year. The sturdy magazine-like paperback with plastic cover is durable, and not to mention water-resistant (at least the cover). I suggest using the index to find particular flowers unless you are very familiar with botanical names. The plants are listed alphabetically by botanical name, not by common name. This is a good starting book for beginner flower gardeners- it sort of reads like the back of a seed packet. The book looks small, but by keeping each plant description short but informative, they've really paked a lot of information into it.

I am only in my second year of gardening, planning my second garden, and this book has been and continues to be a GREAT resource for me! The photos are gorgeous, the text jam-packed with helpful information, and the tables (in the beginning and at the back) are very useful for figuring out what will grow when in the season!

This book has me seriously excited about spring - I can't wait to get planting!

I found this book to have all of the plants that I had and some I wanted. Each reference detailed the growing properties and the methods for any area. I liked the simple format and the easy to read text. There were even tips on what to grow in my shady and wet back yard! I would suggest this book for anyone wanting to learn and as a reference for the things they already have!

Interesting book - I enjoyed it alot

It's quite true that this book shows some lovely and varied flower arrangements. But what concerns me greatly is the picture on page 89 of a grapevine wreath with candles burning beneath it on a mantel. THIS IS A BAD FIRE HAZARD. Please, don't follow the author's example in this - it's too high a risk. Dry, twiggy decorations should never be placed this close to open flame. Nor is it appropriate to place a candle, without a globe around it, to be burned in the center of an arrangement as shown on page 86. Even a green arrangement can be dried to the burning point by a candle flame that close.

I wish this was presented as an example of what not to do, instead of as the successful finished product the author shows it as.

I too checked this one out from the library and promptly purchased it as a reference for my own book collection. I was most inspired by the variety of plants the author highlighted for arranging...I hadn't thought about a lot of the things I already have growing in my own garden in that light before. I also liked her descriptions of the composition of the arrangements.

I first found this book at my public library. I was skeptical at first because growing, rather than cutting flowers is more my thing. But it looked pretty, so I took it home. Wow! What a surprise. I like it so much that I logged on and ordered it from Amazon immediately.

While many of the flower arrangements were not to my taste, the section on "Flowers and Foliage Through the Seasons" is worth the price of the book. Lavishly photographed and thoroughly documented with varieties and cultivation notes, this section contains a number of more unusual complementary foliage plants that a relative beginning gardener like myself might not think to plant. From Euphorbias and Eryngium to "lime green" Nicotiana and the unusual acid green zinnia "Envy" there are dozens of fantastic plants to complement some of the more traditional border flowers.

Sections covered in the book are:

Planning and stocking the Garden
-includes planting schemes and cultivation tips

Flower Arranging
-my least favorite part of the book, but the notes on conditioning different cut flowers are great.

Flowers and Foliage through the Seasons.
-Excellent reference section. The beautiful photos are very detailed(and to scale, you can actually figure out how big one plant is in relation to another!) and grouped by season and color scheme.

Recommended for the beginning/intermediate flower gardener!

In the intro , the author(s) state that the book is focused on the findings of the COPA clients. For an experienced therapist like myself, this was not helpful information. The information was limited, not giving a reader the opportunity to draw conclusions about the general population.

One of the most helpful books available that addresses the issues of chemical dependency in the senior population is a goverment publication. It is entitled "Substance Abuse Among Older Adults" TIP series #26.