The RHS Book of Flower Poetry and Prose is a beautifully curated collection of poetry and short prose excerpts accompanied by garden related images from the RHS' Lindley Library collection. First published in 2006, this reformat and re-release is due out 9th March 2021 from Quarto on their Frances Lincoln imprint. It's 144 pages and will be available in hardcover and ebook formats.

This is such a restful and pretty book. The images are varied and beautiful and the text selections are well curated. The text and images are related to specific flowers, from the humble violet to the noble rose. There are selections from incomparably famous poets and writers as well as ones who were previously unfamiliar to me. The illustrations are mostly 18th-early 20th century botanical prints.

The book also includes a couple of useful appendices in the form of first lines from the included offerings along with an image index.

This would make a superlative gift for a gardening friend (or oneself), as well as a lovely acquisition for public library, and gardening club lending library use.

Five stars, with the codicil that the re-read value might be somewhat limited.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

Maybe just not for me............... ................ ................ ........ .............. ......... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... .................... ....................

These were really lovely pieces on the beauty of nature and flowers. It was such a nice reminder that even in a world that can seem bleak, nature is a wonderful mood lifter. Thanks to the publisher and netgalley for a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.

The Royal Horticultural Society offers another exquisitely illustrated book, this time featuring poetry and prose inspired by flowers. With elegant pieces from Shakespeare to Sitwell, Rossetti to Roethke, this would make a splendid gift for birthdays or special occasions for loved ones who adore art and blooms.

4 of 5 Stars
Pub Date 09 Mar 2021
#TheRHSBookofFlowerPoetryandProse #NetGalley

Thanks to Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

While this was lovely, and I enjoyed the coming together of various poets in regard to flowers, I think this would be a very niched reader who picks this up. This will likely appeal to a very specific, drilled down audience.

The book is a fast read because it is filled with wonderful illustrations of the flowers that are mentioned. The thing is I was expecting more depth in the chosen poems. I mean, sure I knew the poems were about flowers but I didn’t expect it would mean literally. Frankly, some poems were just describing a flower in details and the prose part – well, that looked more like a paragraph taken from Encyclopedia but with a little details that makes it prose and not a scientific description. That’s why after around third of the book I started skipping the prose part and focus on the poems instead. Because they were what really made this book worth reading.

All in all, I did find a couple of poems that really moved me and I bookmarked them. The rest weren’t really that memorable. I would recommend this book to readers who love nature and poems, as for the prose part I think you would be disappointed*. The illustrations are lovely, though!


*But hey, I’m a romance reader so what do I know? Check the rest of the reviews to see if the book is really worth buying/reading 🙂

Rating: 3 out of 5.

This collection features beautiful illustrations alongside words dedicated to various flowers. The selection of writing was taken from a broad variety of writers, and was therefore fresh and non-repetitive. It was delightful to see how a humble flower inspired so many people across centuries and continents!

The artwork is truly remarkable and I absolutely loved staring at all of the flowers! It really made the words come alive. It’s a wonderful coffee table book although I do wish that it featured a more diverse blend of writers.
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC.

Thank you NetGalley for this ARC.

I actually did not have high hopes for this, but it turned out to be a very sweet and thoughtful collection of excerpts and poems about flowers. Bonus points if you open pictures of those flowers alongside while you're reading something because the combination really does take you somewhere else. I know exactly who I'm going to buy this for!

My first impressions of the book cover was, "This is a lovely cover and would look very nice on my bookshelf where I have the rest of my poetry books." As I said, the cover is gorgeous and the artwork in the book was just fabulous. In terms of the book, I loved every single poem that Charles Elliott decided to add into his book. In particular, my favorite poem is by Theodore Roethke, 'Carnations' (1948) for many reasons, but one of the reasons is because my favorite flowers are carnations and Roethke's words in every line were meaningful and heart touching.

I loved every poem in this book, and I would definitely be purchasing this book when it is officially published.

I want to thank NetGalley, Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion, and Charles Elliot for giving me this lovely opportunity to read The RHS Book of Flower Poetry and Prose.

The RHS Book of Flower Poetry and Prose by Charles Elliott is a beautiful book of poetry. Very warming.

This is a lovely collection of poems and prose on more than fifty different flowers. The book is just beautiful, and so lovely to flick through. There are the usual,suspects here like Wordsworth but also some more obscure poets and writers work. This is a thoroughly enjoyable book.

Again a book with some of the most beautiful poems, and this time also prose, combined with stunning illustrations. A book to return to regularly, either to read one of the texts or to simply gaze at the drawings.

The publisher kindly offered me a reader copy via NetGalley. Yet, this is an honest review of the book expressing my own opinion.

This was an interesting collection of poems and short texts inspired by flowers. The mere concept of the book is very intriguing, and the fact that the team behind this book could collect all this art about flowers is astonishing.

Poetry, as it is with all art, is very subjective. A poem that one person doesn't like may have affected someone else's life. That being said, I didn't particularly like the poems included here. I did find some gems, such as Iris, Rosemary, Bavarian Gentian, Heather, Amaranth, Lily of the valley, the poems by Thomas Hardy, and others. However, the lack of diversity and balance between female and male poets/writers was noteworthy. Some poems included wording that hinted at misogyny and women's objectification (please, let's not use female anatomy to describe things). This lack of inclusive representation was clear from the introduction, where only three female names were mentioned in comparison with sixteen male names. Beyond that, few poems caught my attention and appealed to me. But like I said above, poetry and literature are highly subjective.

The illustrations were extraordinary and so very beautiful. I loved each one.

Thank you to the publisher for this ARC. It's an amazing concept that I hope will bring more such books in the future.

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you!

The RHS Book of Flower Poetry and Prose is a collection of poetry focusing on flowers. It features the memorable writings of many different authors throughout history. Alongside the works are beautiful illustrations of the flowers the poems are named after. Reading the thoughts and feelings of so many different people makes this book refreshing and interesting. It's a lovely selection that shows just how people over time have always been inspired and drawn to flowers. There's something in this collection for everyone!

As an American, much of the poetry and prose within this book was foreign to me. Still, I found it delightful. Better yet was the collection of illustrations. Just lovely! A wonderful addition to the library of any gardener.

A beautiful collection of poems and flower artwork. This is a must have book for anyone who loves poems and flowers. The artwork is stunning and the poems are absolutely lovely. I had a great time reading these, especially in my little garden.

*Thanks Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group – White Lion for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

This book is a wonderful collection of flower poetry and prose, but I must admit that I found myself zoning in and out while reading. Nonetheless, to be able to find all these connections throughout English literature and the centuries with horticulture is absolutely incredible.

Read this poetry collection now and then the entire day! It's so amazing! Gave me inner peace when everything was really chaotic outside.

Things seem to be moving at a really fast pace once again these days with all the pandemic hype going down a bit. But yes, this human is still worried senseless. And I needed something like this collection to calm down my chaotic thoughts.

I love, love, love the illustrations! They are so damn beautiful! Exceptional art. Colourful and vibrant. Close to your heart, straight to your mind. Classic poetry collection at its best.

It would be unfair of me to just pick out some favorites.

Just get the book. Just read it. It's powerful yet so calming.

And yes, the damn lights are gone for no reason as I finished up writing this review.

But hell yes, I am still staring at the beautiful illustrations and rereading some poems.

Yes, that's how lovely this collection stays with me.

Thank you, publishers, for the advance reading copy. Love it.

This is a lovely collection for lovers of poetry and gardens alike. It features flower poems and illustrations spanning hundreds of years, with one for each of several dozen types of flowers. There is also prose writing through the centuries, sharing the wonderful things about various flower types from various authors' standpoints. Each flower is illustrated with an illustration from the RHS botanical library. Like the other collections in this series, the writings are all UK and American writers. I would have loved to see some Japanese haikus and poems translated from other areas of the world, but that's a minor issue. This is a delightful collection that really celebrates flowers of all types in a wonderful way.

I read a temporary digital ARC of this book for review.

This is a lovely book to give to one’s self or as a gift to a garden lover. Collected in here are poems or prose about more than fifty flowers, everything from the humble daisy to the violet to the marigold, the harebell poppy and many more. The illustrations are superb-colorful, detailed and engaging. The verse and prose is from everyone from William Carlos Williams to Wordsworth to Longfellow and many writers both very well known and new to me.

I highly recommend this one. Read it to enjoy some nature while you are spending more time at home.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this title. All opinions are my own.