Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style Hardcover – Illustrated, March 24, 2020

When I started painting watercolor florals, this was my first "big" purchase, lol. Looking back now, I had no clue what I was doing and didn't have the correct supplies at all, BUT this book brought out a much deeper connection with my paints and with the flowers. I started to see color differently and composition on a whole deeper level. This book was recommended by a Canadian Artist, Allison Dawrant, and my goodness it changed the course of my life. I will never be without it, until the day I give it to another artist or my daughter. Absolutely get this book and do more than look at the pictures. This is a treasure trove for creatives.

You know that feeling when a book is so good, you just don't want it to ever end?I recently treated myself and *ordered a book* instead of checking it out from the library (I know!) and I was not disappointed. I was charmed and delighted. Best of all? I closed the book informed, inspired and feeling like I'd made a lifelong friend (books can be lifelong friends).Christin Geall's (IG: @cultivatedbychristin) Cultivated: The Elements of Floral Style struck multiple chords in my flower and word-loving heart, which all reverberated down into my soul. I'm not exaggerating.First, and oh-so-refreshingly, Cultivated is not a step-by-step recipe book on how to reproduce the gatherings Geall has created. Instead, the author reaches deep to the roots of what it means to arrange flowers from the bounty of nature that surrounds us, especially blooms, branches and bracken from the garden. She writes on designing with the seasons in mind, with what we have on-hand in the moment we begin to create. She dives into color theory, into the history of flower arranging (!!!), into finding our styles and strides as designers, and more.Geall is a writer by first vocation; I so appreciated her well-crafted words and the stories woven into and throughout this work. She writes and designs from a gardner's perspective, someone who intimately knows soil, sweat, plants and pollinators. She shows how this all comes together in a work of art that can be shared with others: a flower arrangement. She has confidence that you can do the same.If you're like me, you've checked out every floral how-to book from the library, have flipped through all the offerings on the shelves of your local bookstore. But maybe you've been looking for something more, something that digs deeper into the broad spectrum of floral subjects. I devoured it in two days, read it with a pencil in hand, underlining and peppering the margins with hearts and wow faces and exclamation points.Have you read Cultivated? Not yet? If we were neighbors, I'd let you borrow my copy but then you wouldn't want to give it back. I recommend you buy your own copy of this remarkable book.

The author's style of writing is witty, wonderful and engaging. I purchased it for the beautiful photos of florals but found her to be quite entertaining. Loved it!!

The word “cultivated” it’s how the reader feels when reading this book. Christin Geall walks us through so many aspects of floral design with seamless care and attention to detai as she grows us in our understanding of flowers and the many ways they can artfully speak to us. She dives deeper when needed but directs us for further study on our own before we get lost in the details. I have been following Christin for three years on Instagram. Her photos of her arrangements have inspired me more than any other designer to be daring in my choice of material, shape, and style. I bought her book not to learn a formula for arranging, and not even to explore theory... I bought her book to be inspired. I own well over 30 books on flower arranging but most are without a voice or clear concept. I bought Cultivated mostly to support Christin in the publishing of her book during this most difficult time for small businesses I thought the pictures would be beautiful but I was surprised by how much more there was. I settled down with some tea and was delighted to find a book about flowers that actually kept me reading the words on the page instead of just skipping to the next picture. Christins designs are magnificent, her perspective is fresh, forward, and entertaining. This is THE book for amateurs and professionals alike. There is soo much in here! I encourage anyone reading this review to add this lovely book to your collection.

If you want to be inspired by some beautiful arrangements, this is the book! So many ideas and explanations as well. Learned many things about style and arranging flower concepts thus far. Highly recommended, it is not a huge book in size but quite captivating if left out on your shelf or coffee table

Interesting book. For those who want to improve their flower arranging, it does have a few good tips. It's really hard to find good information about various cut flowers, i.e., which are long-lasting (or how long before they look terrible), which are only good for a photo, etc. Most of us do not know the botanical names, nor do we feel we really need to, so books like this are somewhat cumbersome as we're left to research the names given to know which flowers are which according to what we already recognize or not in the photo. And this book really only touches VERY briefly on the essential points, so not really comprehensive, it's more a picture book and a personal journey. But still nice.