The Flower Hunter: Seasonal flowers inspired by nature and gathered from the garden by Lucy Hunter

In The Flower Hunter, Lucy Hunter takes us on an inspirational journey through a year in her garden and artist’s studio set among the mountains of North Wales. Lucy's evocative, gently humorous words accompany her glorious photographs and exquisite floral arrangements, as she encourages the reader to marvel at the intricate cycles of the natural world, develop their own innate creativity, and to look for beauty in the everyday. Her garden provides the raw materials for Lucy's floral artistry—breathtaking naturalistic arrangements with all the painterly beauty and flourish of a Dutch still life. Simple projects accompany Lucy’s text, from drying garden flowers for an autumnal wreath to making your own journals and natural dyes to assembling lavish arrangements that showcase the voluptuous beauty of garden roses. Lucy believes that we all have a creative voice buried deep within. The Flower Hunter will encourage you to find your own creativity and help it to blossom.

From the Publisher Elevating the simple For those who don’t fancy attaching dried flowers to the wall, here is an option for a table arrangement using dried flowers and a vintage glass flower frog to hold the stems. A frog is a glass sphere with a flat bottom and holes in the sides that I push the dried stems into and hold in place, if needed, with floral fix. Using a similar palette to the wall bouquet, I have included Lunaria annua var. albiflora (honesty), larkspur, limonium, Stipa tenuissima ‘Pony Tails’, Lathyrus latifolius (perennial sweet pea), the grey wispy flower heads of Perovskia ‘Blue Spire’ and dried dahlia heads from Justdahlias. An autumnal urn There is never a better time to create a dramatic ‘spilly’ urn overflowing with flowers and foliage cut from the garden. Forage for branches dripping with berries or hips, or shrubs with foliage that boasts amazing autumnal hues. Roses, full blown and slightly battered by the cooler weather, add wonderful texture and interest. The shapes in this particular arrangement should be relaxed and inviting – it’s all about the elegant slump. Flowers for entertaining Come early summer, the garden will be falloff flowers and foliage that I can gather in armfuls and bring inside. I will use them to create bowls of flowers on a table that friends and family can crowd around all together. The room is filled with the heady scents of roses, herbs, sweet peas and strawberries that I have saved from the clutches of the squirrels at the bottom of the garden.