Living with flowers - Nico De Swert

Nico De Swert's fantastic floral arrangements are more likely to resemble the bustle of a haute couture evening gown, an art installation, or an abstract explosion of colours and textures than a mere bouquet. De Swert shuns traditional romance in his designs, striving instead for stunning effect and challenging viewers to step out of their comfortable notions about flowers with his fresh, often radical approach, offering a dazzling selection of new ideas collected here in his first book. He incorporates a wide variety of flowers and plants from the most popular such as roses, to the more traditional and old-fashioned (chrysanthemums, carnations), to the less conventional (ranunculis, helleborus, pussy willows) into his arrangements. While texture, color, and shape are paramount, De Swert has chosen color as the organizing principal in his book. In extended captions, De Swert provides detailed descriptions of each arrangement accompanied by a list of the flowers used in each.