French garden books

An herbier is an herbarium specimen (dried plant mounted on paper and identified with scientific name and provenance) or collection of such sheets. This book, Herbier de France, is a collection of botanically accurately paintings of the wildflowers of France, and I can just tell you it is fantastically beautiful. Spiral-bound and permanently mounted in a beautiful box that opens like a book and when closed, ties with a silky green ribbon. A matching ribbon inside allows you to mark your place.

The plants in the book are organized according to season of bloom, beginning with spring (naturally!). They are shown individually and sometimes collected in sprays or bouquets, and are identified with French common and Latin names. I can just say of the paintings that they are at once perfectly evocative of the plants as you find them in nature, and real works of art.

At the beginning of the book are instructions on how to make your own herbarium pages (in French), and at the end is a list of the species shown, together with description and habitat. The book is entirely in French but because it is primarily pictorial, it hardly matters. The list of plants is better than in any of the wildflower manuals in my library. That is to say, as I turned the pages, I was able to identify plants I'd never found in any other guide. This book is an exquisite pleasure from beginning to end, as refined and sensitive a portrayal of wildflowers as I've ever seen.

Author: Michele Delsaute

Size: 222 pages (14" x 10 3/4")

Origin: France

Ships: Immediately

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