What Constance Spry said about flowers in 1934 still works

Spring fever has got the better of me and I have been Druid like in my reverence of all the blooms that herald my new favorite season.

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Simply said, I have gotten the garden bug but without the garden.
 But I am fortunate because I still have the lackadaisical bug as well so am doing a lot of backseat gardening and buying flowers as those who see my Instagram feed are well aware.

Long time readers may remember I collect vintage books so this afternoon
I chose to read this edition of Constance Spry. ( click on link for more info)

For those who are not familiar with her, the only facile example of her modern day counterpart would be a mix of Carolyne Roehm and Martha Stewart - 
she was a florist /floral decorator/ designer / teacher.  

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She had some famous commissions such as doing the flowers for the coronation of our present queen but also got to do the flowers for the Duke of Windsor's wedding.

She also has a rose named after her.

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The edition I have of this book must be at least from 1936 
but one of the earlier trustees of this book marked 
their custodianship with the year 1938.

I must confess that I originally bought this book in my twenties and the main draw was the author herself and the patina of the book.
( as shown in the first picture )

Today was the second time I read this book and with all things I appreciate aspects of this that passed me by when I first got it.
I love the categories of the books.
The chapter I found a bit boring was the yellow, gold, cream and brown one because those colors in flowers apart from yellow remind me of disease.

This as you will see was a book to be read and not viewed and flipped through.

At first it seems stern until one realizes that printing pictures was a difficult process and that Madame Spry does show a sense of humour and is not at all strict in her views.

What surprised me is that she had no pretensions and was inclusive in this art of floral design because she didn't include expensive or fiddly flowers or rather accentuate the importance of them.

She was quite an egalitarian florist and not at all a snob even though
she was considered THE society florist.

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Lady Montagu Scott's wedding to Duke of Gloucester Via

Below was one of my favorite paragraphs of the whole book and 
in fact I read this several times because this is how I feel when 
I write but just not about flowers.

There were snippets that made me laugh 
due to its anachronistic nature.

And then other points on cultural floral design were so avant-garde and showed critical thinking which 
showed how she set her mark in this niche world.

So much of what she wrote about floral design could have been applied to any category of design be it furniture or architecture.

There are stereotypes and prejudices I had to fight when reading her words because I kept thinking she would be so conservative 
but she showed her sense of humour.
In the chapter about table decorations, 
she says that perhaps one should break the rule of low decoration in certain family gatherings!

There were times when an explanation of every flower of a bouquet she once did was not successful for many reasons: 
my lack of knowledge of flowers and visualization.

And yet sometimes she would be succinct and state her point.
Luncheon tables should have blue flowers.
Don't stress, just go blue.

In modern gardening and flower books, 
most of the editorial layout are pictures and yet here all the pictures were grouped at the back for reference.

Frankly, this looks like a bad Instagram filter but 
am sure this was much appreciated and peered over by 
most British people who bought the book.

I must say that one type of vase that I still have strong opinions are about mixed bunches and
I prefer them in Dutch still lifes and in real life tend to go purist with a few exceptions.

They look black but the caption says red so just go with it.

I liked what she said about red flowers and while I did say 
I don't like mixed bunches, if it is a lack of options then 
I also don't think green should be a supporting act in a bouquet of red otherwise it ends up being too Christmas-y.

A true testament to a classic book is when the writer captures an age old problem -
the little vase with one weak stem on a restaurant table!

I agree with her and would concentrate the flower in one area rather than a feeble flower on every single table only to be removed.

I leave you with some more pictures for you to enjoy and now am off to reread one of her old cookbooks I have of hers!

Here are some more examples of her work.

The caption got cut - it is camellias.

This Christmas tree is one of the oddest ones I have seen.

Have a lovely weekend!