Chicago Botanic Garden

Education — Lenhardt Library

Current Books & Book Reviews

PHOTO: bookcover

Margaret Willes.
Pick of the Bunch: The Story of Twelve Treasured Flowers.
Oxford: Bodleian Library, 2009.
cloth, 168 pp., ISBN 978–1–85124–303–7, $35.00.

British author Margaret Willes, an eminent historian and publisher, traces the history of some favorite flowers, known for their continuing popularity with the British for centuries. These are the lily, auricula, daffodil/narcissus, iris, fritillary, tulip, hyacinth, carnation, snowdrop, rose, dahlia, violet, and pansy. She relates their origins and discovery; their introduction to the botanical world and subsequent nomenclature; their appearance in paintings and print, their symbolism, and their devoted fans. Her stories also include the botanists, the plant explorers, the artists, and so many others who helped to keep each species so prominent. Beautifully illustrated with archival drawings, this is an elegant, delightful book, filled with anecdotes about these precious gifts from the garden.

— Marilyn K. Alaimo, garden writer and volunteer, Chicago Botanic Garden.