Nico De Swert's fantastic floral arrangements are anything but traditional bouquets. They are more likely to resemble the bustle of an haute couture evening gown, an art installation, or an abstract explosion of colors and textures. Shunning traditional romantic floral design and instead striving for gorgeous artifice, De Swert challenges the viewer to see flowers and plants in a new light: as a medium, much like fabric or paint, for creating art. In Living with Flowers, the accomplished floral designer and interior stylist offers a dazzling collection of new ideas for extraordinary floral arrangements: a sphere of tightly packed crimson roses overlaid with perfectly flat dark green leaves, mimicking a watermelon; or a dome-shaped tower of tiny mauve and lavender blossoms rising out of a pewter bowl. With color as its organizing principle, this exquisite book provides captions listing the wide range of flowers and plants used, as well as tips on how to extend their life and show them off to best advantage. A source guide for the best flowers and materials rounds out this exceptional volume.

Photographer(s): Wendell T. Webber