Madderlake's Trade Secrets: Finding & Arranging Flowers Naturally

Foxglove tilting out of an old Alka Seltzer bottle? This and other floral proposals fill a lavish, original picture album and consumer advisory. Pritchard and Jarecki ( Flowers Rediscovered ) run New York City's Pure Madderlake shop; their celebrated eye does its work in these pages. While the instructions are matter-of-fact (``During the summer months, keep flowers away from drafts created by central air-conditioning systems''), the visual style is unexpected, suggestive, sometimes jaunty, always infectious. Turn to a section on containers, for instance, and you'll find dainty cattelyas swirling from a ceramic man's head--the vase. However, the Madderlake ``way'' defies the righteousness of any single approach. Instead, the reader finds an array of possibilities, from the historical (e.g., Flemish) to the woodsy, to the genteel ultimate (a foray to the gardens of Savannah, Ga.), as options. The authors direct us to markets and beyond, as sources; brush up our techniques in arranging flowers; and take us along on trips to foreign places to illustrate their floral styles. Sandwiched in between are brief testimonials from other floraholics; information on flower shows; and more. The design of the book is almost as versatile as its contents: exquisitely effective type and layout decisions make fine print happily cohabit with rampant bursts of bloom. Author tour. (Feb.)