The 6 Best Books About Flowers for Learning, Journaling, and Arranging

Written by Angie Menjivar
Updated: April 8, 2023
© iStock.com/penkanya

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It’s difficult to walk by a gorgeous garden without being pulled in by the beauty of the flowers. Your usual power walk might turn into a leisurely stroll as you take in the different colors on a sunny day. There’s a reason why artists recreate flowers and why poets use them in their verses. They emanate an undeniable splendor that can warm even the coldest heart. When searching for books about flowers, you have several options to explore. There are educational books that teach everything from how to care for flowers to secrets of the Victorian language of flowers.

Below, we highlight the six best books about flowers. In each section, we give you some information about what you can find in each book, the type of person who would most enjoy it, and some insights gleaned from customer reviews. We highlight informative texts, those with captivating photography and illustrations, an option for young readers, and even a journaling book about flowers that helps you keep organized when tending to your garden.

  1. Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers
    • Comprehensive book that’s easy to understand even if you’re a beginner
    • Photographic catalog of 4,000 plants and flowers
    • Customers rate this book 4.7 out of five stars
    Check Amazon
  2. Big Book of Blooms (The Big Book Series)
    • Gorgeous illustrations of flowers fill these pages
    • Great for young readers
    • Includes both beautiful and strange flowers from around the globe
    • Teaches children about botany and how to identify various flower species
    Check Amazon
  3. Flower Color Guide
    • Great reference book on flower color
    • Showcases 400 flowers when they are in peak bloom
    • Customers rate this book 4.7 out of five stars
    Check Amazon
  4. Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers
    • A full-color guide to all the secret meanings behind a long list of flowers and herbs
    • Well-researched and illustrated
    • Customers rate this book 4.9 out of five stars
    Check Amazon
  5. Garden Journal: Columbine on Black
    • This garden journal is the perfect size at 6” x 9” and includes a garden to-do list
    • Quick guide for plant identification
    • Customers rate this journal five out of five stars
    Check Amazon
  6. Floret Farm's A Year in Flowers: Designing Gorgeous Arrangements for Every Season
    • New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller
    • Over 25 projects to try
    • Customers rate this book 4.9 out of five stars
    Check Amazon

Top Picks: The Best Books About Flowers for Learning, Journaling, and Arranging

#1: Best Overall: Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers by Christopher Brickell

The best overall book about flowers is Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers. This book is available in hardcover and Kindle versions. It’s written to help you find gardening inspiration. If you’ve been dreaming about creating a gorgeous garden oasis, this is the type of guidance you need in your life. It’s a comprehensive book that’s easy to understand even if you’re a beginner. It provides you with the planting guide that every gardener needs.

Inside, you’ll uncover a photographic catalog of 4,000 plants and flowers. Each is grouped by size, color, and type. The way it’s organized allows you to browse and select the best plants for your dream garden. You also get a plant dictionary that describes over 8,000 species and varieties. Plus, you get the details on their ideal growing conditions. This is like a sneak peek into the minds of garden plant specialists. You get tons of information and lots of full-color photography all in one. However, be aware that this is quite a large and heavy book — but of course, for good reason, since it has so much useful information for flower gardens!

Customers rate this book 4.7 out of five stars. They describe it as detailed because it has everything you can imagine. One customer says it’s a perfect book for a beginner like him. He realized once he flipped through the pages that it has all the information he needs to get started and helps him identify certain plants that he wants to keep adding to his garden. Overall, the book is described as beautiful, concise, and informative.

Pros and Cons of Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers by Christopher Brickell

ProsCons
This book is available in hardback and for Kindle.This book is large and quite heavy.
It is very comprehensive and a great reference book for flowers and gardening.
The photographic catalog of this book includes 4,000 plants and flowers, each grouped by size, color, and style.
There is also a plant dictionary with over 8,000 species and varieties.
This book provides lots of information on plants, including their ideal growing conditions.
It is filled with tons of full-color photographs.
The book is great for beginners as well as experienced gardeners.
Best Overall
Encyclopedia of Plants and Flowers
  • Comprehensive book that’s easy to understand even if you’re a beginner
  • Photographic catalog of 4,000 plants and flowers
  • Customers rate this book 4.7 out of five stars
Check Amazon

2. Best for Children: Big Book of Blooms (The Big Book Series) by Yuval Zommer

If you’re thinking of picking up a book about flowers for a kiddo in your life, the Big Book of Blooms is it. This book offers kids an introduction to some of the most beautiful and surprising flowers from around the globe. Gorgeous illustrations of flowers fill these pages, and your young reader (between ages three and seven) gets to learn about all the various habitats that serve as home to flowers.

Kiddos quickly learn all about botany and discover how to recognize the different types of flowers. Some flowers are endangered, and some blooms are wildly fragrant. Your young reader learns about all these details as well as some grisly details about poisonous and carnivorous flowers. The information is continuously interesting throughout the book and the illustrations keep young readers mesmerized. It’s a charming picture book with intriguing and informative text. The child in your life won’t be able to stop turning the pages.

Pros and Cons of Big Book of Blooms (The Big Book Series) by Yuval Zommer

ProsCons
This book is a great introduction to some of the most beautiful and surprising flowers from around the globe.
It has beautiful and stunning illustrations on each page.
The book helps children to learn about botany and how to recognize different types of flowers and their various habitats.
It includes common, endangered, and even poisonous and carnivorous flowers.
This book is aimed at children between the ages of three and seven.
Best for Children
Big Book of Blooms (The Big Book Series)
  • Gorgeous illustrations of flowers fill these pages
  • Great for young readers
  • Includes both beautiful and strange flowers from around the globe
  • Teaches children about botany and how to identify various flower species
Check Amazon

3. Best Color Guide: Flower Color Guide by Taylor Putnam (Author) and Michael Putnam (Author)

For an awesome guide that centers around color, pick up Flower Color Guide, a great flower reference book. You can use it to plan an event like a romantic evening or even something bigger like a wedding. When you start your planning process, color is an important defining factor. To make sure that you always have a resource to turn to, this guide helps with organizing flower types by color, and it emphasizes seasonality. You’re privy to the right color schemes to express your creativity and you’re continuously surprised by the variety and the stunning results you get.

The book showcases 400 flowers when they are in peak bloom. The authors are responsible for the inspiring photography throughout the book, which you can only truly appreciate once it’s in your hands. Aside from the organization of flower types by color, this book also offers tips on flower care and gives you some notes on how to prepare vessels. You have the color schemes to refer to, so even when you’re feeling creatively stuck, you have this guide to turn to you. Pick it up for yourself or buy it as a gift for a flower enthusiast in your life.

Flower Color Guide has 484 pages, but the size of the book is quite small. This is great for taking the book along with you in your planning. However, some customers did not like the book’s small size.

Pros and Cons of Flower Color Guide by Taylor Putnam (Author) and Michael Putnam (Author)

ProsCons
This is a great reference guide for flower colors and event planning.A few customers did not like the book’s small size.
The book organizes flower types by color and emphasizes seasonality.
It includes how to choose the right color schemes, tips on flower care, and how to prepare vessels.
The book showcases 400 flowers when they are in peak bloom.
Flower Color Guide has 484 pages, but the size of the book is quite small. This is great for taking the book along with you in your planning.
Best Color Guide
Flower Color Guide
  • Great reference book on flower color
  • Showcases 400 flowers when they are in peak bloom
  • Customers rate this book 4.7 out of five stars
Check Amazon

4. Best Language of Flowers: Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers by Jessica Roux

To learn the language of flowers, you need Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers. This book serves as an encyclopedia for the flower enthusiast in your life, even if that’s you. It’s a full-color guide to all the secret meanings behind a long list of flowers and herbs. It touches on the historical uses of flowers and herbs and explores the coded significance of different flowers. For example, do you know the difference between the type of flowers you give to a lover and the types of flowers you give to a friend?

The language of flowers has historically been understood as a secret language. During the 19th century, it was incredibly popular, particularly in Victorian England and the United States. It’s a playful yet mysterious language that touches on pieces of history and folklore. The book is both researched and illustrated by a popular artist named Jessica Roux. It makes a great gift to yourself or somebody you love and can serve as a conversation piece or as a display book.

This book will help you learn not only the different names of flowers but also their symbolic meanings and how to pair different flowers together for new meanings as well. The pages of the book are thick and high-quality, with gorgeous floral illustrations.

Pros and Cons of Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers by Jessica Roux

ProsCons
This book serves as an illustrated encyclopedia of flowers.
The illustrations are exquisite and full of color.
This book is a guide to the secret meanings behind many types of flowers and herbs.
It discusses the historical uses of flowers and herbs, as well as the coded and symbolic meanings behind them.
This book teaches the symbolic language or meanings of various flowers and how to pair different flowers together for new meanings as well.
The pages of the book are thick and high-quality.
Best Language of Flowers
Floriography: An Illustrated Guide to the Victorian Language of Flowers
  • A full-color guide to all the secret meanings behind a long list of flowers and herbs
  • Well-researched and illustrated
  • Customers rate this book 4.9 out of five stars
Check Amazon

5. Best Journal: Garden Journal: Columbine on Black by Kitty Mecham

Whether you’ve already started a garden, or you plan to, you need a journal like the Garden Journal: Columbine on Black to take notes regarding all of the plants and flowers you are planting. This garden journal is the perfect size at 6 inches by 9 inches and includes a garden to-do list, an overall garden layout, an individual bed layout, and planting notes that you can organize by month and season.

There’s a quick guide for plant identification and the design on the front and back covers are hand drawn by artist Kitty Mecham. It’s designed to be a lovely journal that pleases you aesthetically while also serving as a functional piece you can use to keep track of your garden. Use colored pencils, gel pens, graphite, and some types of markers to keep each page as lively as your garden.

Pros and Cons of Garden Journal: Columbine on Black by Kitty Mecham

ProsCons
This journal is a great size, 6 by 9 inches.
It includes pages for a garden to-do list, an overall garden layout, an individual bed layout, and planting notes that can organize by month and season.
There is also a quick guide for plant identification.
The front and back covers have lovely columbine flower drawings from artist Kitty Mecham.
This journal is both functional and aesthetically pleasing.
You can colored pencils, gel pens, graphite, and some types of markers in this journal.
Best Journal
Garden Journal: Columbine on Black
  • This garden journal is the perfect size at 6” x 9” and includes a garden to-do list
  • Quick guide for plant identification
  • Customers rate this journal five out of five stars
Check Amazon

6. Best for Designing Flower Arrangements: Floret Farm’s A Year in Flowers: Designing Gorgeous Arrangements for Every Season by Erin Benzakein (Author) and Chris Benzakein (Photographer)

Floret Farm’s A Year in Flowers: Designing Gorgeous Arrangements for Every Season is a national bestseller and has made its mark in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and at the Washington Post. This book prepares you to buy, style, and present seasonal flower arrangements. It doesn’t matter what the occasion is, you can always create a gorgeous design with the help of this lovely book.

There are different sections in this book that touch on flower care, design techniques, and tools you can use. You get all the secrets from expert flower farmer and floral designer, Erin Benzakein, who fans frequently refer to as “the flower whisperer”. It’s designed and written in a way to empower you all year long, whether you’re harvesting from your own garden or going out to pick up blooms at your local market. The advice on design techniques is simple to follow and you are encouraged to try over 25 projects that range from giftable posies to jaw-dropping bridal bouquets.

The instructions Benzakein provides are clear and the photos as gorgeous. The book is warm and engaging and has great step-by-step guidance for some of the trickier techniques. This book is a great choice for coffee table browsing as well as an excellent reference and resource for flower arranging.

Pros and Cons of Floret Farm’s A Year in Flowers: Designing Gorgeous Arrangements for Every Season

ProsCons
This book is a national bestseller and has made its mark in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Publishers Weekly, and at the Washington Post.
It prepares you to buy, style, and present seasonal flower arrangements.
It provides information about flower care, design techniques, and tools, as well as step-by-step instructions.
The author is a professional flower farmer and floral designer.
It includes information that can help you with flowers all year long.
The instructions are clear and easy to follow.
The photographs are colorful and beautiful.
Best for Designing Flower Arrangements
Floret Farm's A Year in Flowers: Designing Gorgeous Arrangements for Every Season
  • New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller
  • Over 25 projects to try
  • Customers rate this book 4.9 out of five stars
Check Amazon

Criteria: What to Look for in Books About Flowers

There are so many different types of books about flowers, so we want to invite you to consider three important factors that can help you settle on a book that works for your needs.

  • Pictures
  • Use
  • Reading level

Pictures

When it comes to a book about something as colorful and varied as flowers, you’re going to want some good pictures. Books with photographs of real-life flowers are great for research or floral arranging. Many children’s books have colorful and engaging pictures as well. Many of the books on our list have customers who purchased them simply for the gorgeous art inside!

Use

How will you be using this book? Are you a beginner who wants to start a garden and you need some guidance on plant care and seasonal blooms? Make sure that you pick up a beginner friendly book that doesn’t just identify different types of flowers and plants, but also gives you step-by-step instructions on how to properly care for each of the blooms you select. On the other hand, if you’ve already gotten started with your garden and you need a place to keep all of your notes, a journal is your best bet. There are different reasons why you may want to pick up books about flowers; just be sure that you know the reason you’re picking up the book so that you can find the one that has all the information you need.

Reading Level

The reading level of the book in question is another consideration. We picked a lot of books that are written specifically for adults or maybe even some teenagers who can follow along with step-by-step instructions and who know how to use an encyclopedia as a great resource. However, if you have a younger reader that is interested in flowers or whom you would like to introduce to flowers, make sure that you pick up a book about flowers that is at the right reading level. We highlighted one such option in the list above and find that young readers really respond to it. You can also check out our review of the Best Children’s Books About Flowers for more kid-friendly ideas as well.

The Three Different Types of Books About Flowers

In this article, we highlight a couple different types of books about flowers. We explain those different types below.

Educational

You can always pick up an educational book about flowers. These books list the different flower species, sometimes by color, and sometimes in conjunction with different plants. They identify the name of the different flowers and any defining characteristics they have. Educational books may also cover the Victorian language of flowers, which takes the understanding of flowers to a whole new level.

Guides

Whether you’re a newbie or just trying to get your bearings with a new garden, you need a guide. There are different types of books about flowers that offer guidance. Some of them are geared more toward a beginner while others build on your existing knowledge. Ultimately, these types of books offer step-by-step instructions that help you follow along with proper flower care, building a garden, and even creating floral arrangements. There are also flower field guides to help you identify flowers that you may come across.

Journals

The third type of book about flowers includes journals. When you have gotten started with a garden, you’ll quickly realize that there are plenty of notes you need to take to make sure you keep up with it. Instead of relying on old notebooks or even notes on your phone, you can rely on a journal specifically created to help you maintain proper care of your garden.

About the Author

Angie Menjivar is a writer at A-Z-Animals primarily covering pets, wildlife, and the human spirit. She has 14 years of experience, holds a Bachelor's degree in psychology, and continues her studies into human behavior, working as a copywriter in the mental health space. She resides in North Carolina, where she's fallen in love with thunderstorms and uses them as an excuse to get extra cuddles from her three cats.

The 6 Best Books About Flowers for Learning, Journaling, and Arranging FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions) 

What is the Victorian language of flowers?

It refers to the way flowers were used in the Victorian era to send secretive, silent messages. For example, if a flower was handed to you with the person’s right hand, that meant “yes.” If it was handed to you with their left hand, that meant “no.” Each type of flower also had its own symbolic meaning as well. For example, people would give acacia or periwinkle to a new friend, or a forget-me-not to someone who was moving away.

How do you make a simple flower arrangement?

First, pick your flowers. Next, pick your vase. When it comes to arranging them together, trim all the flowers to fit the vase. Add water and floral preservative packets and voila!

What is one of the most popular flowers?

In the western world, roses are typically the most popular flower used in floral arrangements.

What do you call someone who loves plants?

Traditionally, those who know a great deal about plants and how to grow them are called horticulturalists.

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