Walk into any nursery, florist, or supermarket, and you'll encounter displays of dozens of gorgeous flowers, from chrysanthemums to orchids. At one time these fanciful blooms were the rare trophies of the rich and influential-even the carnation, today thought of as one of the humblest cut flowers. Every blossom we take for granted now is the product of painstaking and imaginative planning, breeding, horticultural ingenuity, and sometimes chance. The personalities of the breeders, from an Indiana farmer to Admiral Lord Gambier's gardener, were as various and compelling as the beauty they conjured from skilled hybridization.
In Visions of Loveliness: Great Flower Breeders of the Past, Judith Taylor wrote engagingly about the vivid history and characters behind eighteen types of popular flowers. In this companion volume she uncovers information about another eight familiar flowers: poinsettias, chrysanthemums, gladioli, pansies, carnations, water lilies, clematis, and penstemons.
Taylor has tapped into an enormous trove of stories about extraordinary people with vision and skill who added to our enjoyment piece by piece, starting about 150 years ago. This beautifully illustrated book will please flower enthusiasts, gardeners, and history buffs alike.

Walk into any nursery, florist, or supermarket, and you'll encounter displays of dozens of gorgeous flowers, from chrysanthemums to orchids. At one time these fanciful blooms were the rare trophies of the rich and influential-even the carnation, today thought of as one of the humblest cut flowers.

About the Author
Judith M. Taylor is the author of The Olive in California: History of an Immigrant Tree; Tangible Memories: Californians and Their Gardens, 1800 to 1950; The Global Migrations of Ornamental Plants: How the World Got into Your Garden, and Visions of Loveliness: Great Flower Breeders of the Past. She lives in San Francisco.

Reviews
"A well-researched volume for those who are deeply interested in the history of plant breeding and past plant breeders, the development of horticulture as a profession, and the flowers featured." * Library Journal *
"In this volume, Taylor succeeds once again in bringing the stories of diligent flower breeders of the past to the gardeners who benefit from their efforts today." * The American Gardener *
"We are grateful to authors, such as Judith Taylor, who continue to search archives, historical societies and publications and interview family members to unearth information about, and bring attention to, those figures in the plant sciences whose accomplishments have been buried with time. As the author writes in her endnote, 'the knowledge increases the pleasure' of these plants." * Huntia: A Journal of Botanical History *
"After reading Taylor, I will embark with new eyes on the glorious weeks which are now beginning, the season of lilacs and rhododendrons, lupins, delphiniums, roses and sweet peas."
"Judith M. Taylor brings to life the 'creators' of these ornamental plants and many others in a way that will give you new appreciation for flowers of all kinds."
"Although her anecdotes are blessedly breezy, her encyclopedia is exhaustive."



Book Information
ISBN 9780804011938
Author Judith M. Taylor
Format Paperback
Page Count 240
Imprint Swallow Press
Publisher Ohio University Press