Simply Elegant Flowers With Michael George

This book is filled with beautiful imagery and stunning techniques. Michael George is one of New York City's greatest innovators in floral design, with clients such as Vera Wang, Gucci, Prada and many more. His technique can be practiced from this book. This is for those who enjoy clean contemporary looks. If you're looking to create the 1-800 flowers cupcake bouquet, or anything else that's overdone and tacky, this book is not for you...

This book is fantastic! Informative, step by step instruction, -- too many wonderful things about the book to list here!

I was surprised to see another reviewer calling the book pedestrian and not cutting-edge. I would say quite the opposite. I have a few other flower arranging books and I think this one is by far the most modern and stylish. The arrangements are very minimalist but that's what makes them so stunning and impactful. I would strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in flowers and flower arranging.

My mother ordered this book after she and I went to see a Michael George lecture at a local museum. To begin with, we really liked Michael George as a person and that made ordering his book an easy decision. He has a great sense of humor and, despite having celebrity clientèle, is down to earth and without pretense. The book itself is stunning. Each glossy page features pictures full of color and life and the arrangements are truly inspiring. Michael's philosophy is to "keep things simple." He feels that, the more natural, the more beautiful and therefore one does not need to go crazy when arranging their flowers. The book is divided in the following manner: Foreword by Martha Stewart Introduction by Michael George (in which he explains his philosophy) PART 1: Floral Design Chapter 1: Flowers in Today's World Chapter 2: Tools & Tricks of the Trade Chapter 3: Signature Flower Arranging Techniques PART 2: Four Seasons Chapter 4: Spring Chapter 5: Summer Chapter 6: Autumn Chapter 7: Winter Index One of the best features of the book is Michael's explanation of his "Hybrid Tabletop" technique. He shows the reader how to do it (step-by-step) with classic and miniature calla lilies. The result is a gorgeous arrangement with stems that appear twisted (I'm not doing the way it looks justice with that explanation but I don't know how else to describe it). Michael uses all glass containers which really show-case the bright green stems. He gives instruction on stacking the flowers, before cutting, how to cut (and what tools to use), how to gently manipulate the stems of certain flowers to achieve varying looks, how to use clear rubber bands to hold your arrangements together, what temperature water to use in your arrangements and many other helpful hints. In conclusion, this book is perfect for a coffee table but it is also so much more, given that it offers loads of instruction. Do not hesitate to purchase this for yourself or as a gift for someone else (this would be a great Mother's Day gift for any mother who enjoys flowers).

I really enjoyed this book. The photography is fabulous, and I learned so much about the different flowers. I bought it as a coffee-table book and put it out in the living room. Then I saw my 12-year-old daughter reading it, completely fascinated. We went to the Korean market to buy flowers and started to arrange a bouquet back home--which is actually something Michael George recommends doing with the family. Our simple arrangement of tulips is holding up and continues to make us smile when we pass by it. We're already planning on doing more. A very nice book, which isn't in the living room anymore!