BOOK REVIEWS

Gardenhome — City

Bonnie Trust Dahan
Chronicle Books
Distributed by Southern Publishers Group

THIS gorgeous coffee-table style book is targeted at international city dwellers, but you don't need a loft or apartment to appreciate it. Gardenhome - City also offers a wealth of wonderful ideas for anyone wanting to create a touch of garden style indoors during the cooler months.

A mix of gardening, interior design and floral art, Gardenhome - City suggests new and innovative ways to decorate your home with flowers, foliage, fruits and sculptural seedpods.

Some of the ideas might prove too modern and minimalist for most gardeners' tastes, but there are lots of vibrant combinations for those of us who prefer full-on floral colour, from Iceland poppies in pretty glass vases to bold red bromeliads in latte bowls. And who would have thought that purple kale and hundreds of little lime-green chrysanthemums could make such an effective dinner table decoration?

The photography is stunning too, with extensive, informative captions. And thankfully, unlike many similar floral design books, the photos are clear, rather than soft-focus, making it easy to replicate the ideas featured.

Gardenhome - City is an excellent sourcebook, and one you'll enjoy dipping into time and again for floral inspiration for special occasions or just to lift your spirits when it's too wet and cold to get your hands into the soil outdoors.

Reproduced with permission from the former Weekend Gardener magazine. The views expressed here are not necessarily those of the RNZIH