I loved this so much. As someone who loves flowers and also loves the meaning and lore behind things this was so much fun for me. I felt like it was so much more than just talking about flowers I also learned things about the world and history that was really interesting. And the artwork was stunning. I want as many of these pictures as possible hanging in my house.

this was an enjoyable and fun read! I like to read books these - where I learn not only facts about something, but also some interesting and fun stories attached to it. Like mythology and stories. I also liked the way the book was presented: with colors and illustrations of the flowers and how it would look somewhat reminiscent to how dictionaries used to look like (or encyclopedias I think). I also found the ritual regarding each flower at the end of their story a fun touch that sounds like it could provide a thoughtful and perhaps even relaxing experience and activity.

I did find one spelling mistake, where the 's' in "black ones" in the tulip chapter was with two 's' and not the one. The digital copy was also a little annoying to get used to, but that was it in terms of technicality.

It's a good and fun source of facts and stories for your own personal inspiration or source of information regarding flowers. And if not for writing, just an enjoyable and lighthearted way to learn some more things about the world.

However, I will also say that it did unfortunately fall within my expectations that a lot of the flowers were associated with Greece, Europe, and such countries and continents.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a cute read! This book describes the stories and myths behind many beautiful flowers you can encounter. Accompanied by beautiful illustrations (really loved their simplicity and colour schemes!) and mindfulness-related activities, this makes for a nice way to connect closer to nature. If I can have one minor complaint: the accompanying activities were often a bit repetitive, and very generic. But I do appreciate the warnings given regarding for example avoiding the use of some essential oils for epileptics.

**I was provided an electronic ARC from the publisher through NetGalley.**

Actual rating: 3.5

Alison Davies presents Floral Folklore, a collection of myths and folklore surrounding flowers in various cultures. The flowers are organized by season and involve a four page spread for each flower. One page is a beautiful illustration while page two provides the flower name, a description, common symbolism, the folklore country of origin, and begins the associated tale. The following pages finish the tale and then provide an activity centered on the flower.

I found the illustrations to be lovely and the color palette to be appropriate for each flower. The third and fourth pages for each flower were notably bare of both color and design. The activities were a nice addition, but not something with which I would ordinarily engage. The folklore selections were nice, but notably Euro-centric though several plants were added that were clearly attempts to diversify the selection of folklore which was appreciated if very much imbalanced in proportion.

Overall, this is a fun starting point for looking into more floral meanings and more folklore and I would happily recommend it as an introductory work.

Floral Folklore:
The forgotten tales behind nature’s most enchanting plants
Alison Davies
This is a fascinating book that shares the old tales concerning plants. Many of these tales are a thousand years old. There are tales concerning the Greek Gods as well as the tales from the Victorian Era. This book shares the tale, the origin, and an illustration of forty plants. Many of the plants and flowers are familiar to us. Many of the stories are beautiful and have a message for us today.
Among the tales is one concerning sage growing in the garden of a woman who is capable of ruling her house and her husband. It is said poppies grow where blood has been shed. Many of the flowers have other names: the violet is “The most beautiful woman in the world.”, Anemone is “Aphrodite and Adonis, and the Phlox is “The Lost Cloud.”
While I enjoyed the stories and the illustrations are beautiful I am concerned about the rituals in this book. For they seem wrong to me. Each flower comes with a ritual and I equate rituals with witchcraft or magic. It is for that reason that I cannot recommend this book.
Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with a copy of this book for review.

This is such a sweet book that is very clearly targeted toward the female audience, though it would make an excellent addition to any collection of coffee table books for seasoned gardeners and floral lovers alike. The incredibly detailed stories match well with the beautifully accented drawings to keep a reader's interest.

This book is worth it for the artwork alone. But the stories definitely add something special, as well. The flowers in the book are accompanied by short stories. The only downside was that the text was really small and somewhat difficult to read on the NetGalley app, but this likely won't be an issue in the print or Kindle versions. I enjoyed this immensely and would definitely pick up a print copy.

Thank you to Netgalley and Quarto Publishing Group-Leaping Hare for this ARC. This is my honest review.

2.5 stars ⭐️ ⭐️

Floral Folklore tells short folk stories about a variety of seasonal flowers. Included are short descriptions of the flowers and their common associations, as well as where the folklore originated from. At the end of each story is a short exercise or ritual for one to become “spiritually” closer to that flower.

To start with the positives: the illustrations and graphic set-up of this book is stunning. I would hang up those illustrations as artwork in my home! I think these are great short bedtime stories for children or even adults. Very cozy and it gives a new perspective on the flowers! I thought it was cool to learn some names about flowers I didn’t know the name of and now having an ability and appreciation for the blooms, should I come across them.

My critiques: first and foremost, PLEASE HAVE SOME PROOF SPELLING AND GRAMMAR. I found at LEAST 10 errors and I felt like I was skimming. This knocks so many points off a book for me. 1-2 is fine but annoying. Anything more than 3 is just sloppy. Another thing I felt lacking was more practical information about the flowers. There was really only two pages to each flower and it left me wanting more. I understand it’s about the folklore, but I just wanted to read more about the flower as well. The ritual exercises were often repeated as the same thing. Some were very creative and some I actually practiced! But I don’t want to have to read about doing a breathing exercise for a flower. For one flower it would be fine, but not for a handful. I think the Fall flowers had the best exercises.

Would I buy this book? Probably not, knowing what I know now. But it would make a good coffee table book. Just for the illustrations alone.

This was really inspiring to take up gloves and hunt around outside to really connect with all the florist and fauna once again. The stories were enlightening and unique. I loved every single one!

This book contains short floral folklore stories—mostly from Europe with a scattering of other global locations. I would have liked to see more diversity in the folklore origins. The book is organized by seasons, there’s approximately 10 flowers per season. If you like short stories, each story is 3 pages long and ends with a ritual. The stories are fun to read and the illustrations are beautifully done.

As a gardener and mythology lover (blaming my D&D loving brother and favorite English teacher Mrs. Z), it was a foregone conclusion that I would love Floral Folklore.

Floral Folklore has a defined format for each of (43) different flowers. Flower drawing (beautifully drawn and illustrated), name, short description, floral meaning, Folklore origin, the folklore, and then advise/meditation advice for the reader to further connect with the plant that was just discussed. This format provides for four pages per flower. The book has flowers organized by season.

Some legends I recognized, some I hadn't. One folklore story that I wasn't familiar with (and was one of my favorites) was St. John's Wort.

Very enjoyable!

Thank you to NetGalley, author Alison Davies and publisher Quarto Publishing Group - Leaping Hare for the opportunity to read Floral Folklore in exchange for an honest review. Publication date is 05 Mar 2024,

Thank you to NetGalley and Quarto Publishing for this early digital copy.
This was a sweet and unique surprise! Each flower and herb has a brief description and a short story. There are “rituals” for each flower that add a fun, magical touch.

I found this to be a really beautifully illustrated and delightful book. I never really thought about the folklore of flowers before, and this was a great introduction into that concept. A great coffee table book or book for the flower enthusiast in your life! 4.5/5

Beautiful illustrations and charming one to two page tales and rituals per plant. A nice reference book for anyone looking up meaning for a flower close to their heart.

This is a short cute book. It has the 4 seasons and shows different herbs in each season. Then it tells you a story and a ritual to do. The stories are so cute and I love the painted like pictures.

Alison Davies has written a lot about connecting to nature and finding the magic that still remains in our world. This time around she is devoting a book on flowers to that same passion.

The book has four chapters, one for each season. Each season has between 9 -12 flowers each. Each flower has two pages with beautiful illustrations by Sarah Wildling.

Each flower comes with its different meanings and an abbreviated folktale from different parts of the world. Lastly Davies provides a ritual you can try using with the flower.

I enjoyed the whimsy of the book. I wanted to read it in hopes I might get a more historical approach to the different myths and folktales dealing with flowers but I still enjoyed my time with the book.

The layout of this book is so strategic and uniform in a way that makes this graphic designer’s heart sing. The illustrations were gorgeous and I loved learning about each flower’s folklore as well as having rituals at the end to help someone set an intention or find deeper connection with nature. The nod to Floriography with the section about each stem’s meaning was an excellent inclusion.

Floral Folklore attempts to get humans back in touch with the natural world around them by reintroducing readers to some of the flowers that surround us in daily life and tying their names to stories/myths cultivated and collected from around the globe. Some of these stories were absolutely beautiful with important messages at their heart.

For example, the Rhododendron's refusal to be accepted by a forest partner when she is stunning and in full bloom if they cannot accept her in winter when her colour has drained and her petals are lacklustre I felt was quite touching. Brings a whole new meaning to the latter part of a Marilyn Monroe quote "...if you can't handle me at my worst, then you sure as hell don't deserve me at my best."

Each flower has beautifully drawn artwork adorning a full page, a story/myth associated with the bloom and rituals to help you to get closer to nature. These are some generally nice mindfulness-related practices that we all should be doing some variation of, every once in a while, to reflect, bring peace and become more self aware.

With stories coming from Nepal, Persia, Israel, Europe and also drawing from Greek mythology, there is something for everyone to enjoy, and you'll emerge with a better understanding of the cultural significance of the featured flowers and even more besides.

I received this DRC from NetGalley.

Probably 3.5 stars. I like the idea of this book. The myths associated with flowers is interesting, and I like that their symbology and some practical applications are listed. And it's nice that they're grouped by blooming season.

But I think artwork in a book about flowers is very important. Some of the pieces were not great; also, because of the style of artwork, some of the flowers ended up looking like they had wrinkly skin for petals. And I also don't know if the author took little liberties in the retelling of the stories; I could be nitpicking, but one example- the flowers named after Narcissus are called Narcissus, and Daffodil is just the common name. Also, some of the flowers have their genus and species listed, but others don't.

The author also includes little rituals to go with each plant, usually involving some time staring at the flower and having some thoughts about life. I don't know where these came from, but I just didn't see the point. Maybe I'm the rare plant person that doesn't include overt spirituality in my gardening.

Beautifully illustrated book with interesting stories behind each flower. It was nice to see some familiar tales told in a new way as well as some new folklore to explore. I loved the rituals at the end of each story, even if some of them did not seem to fit the themes of said story. I definitely know of some people in my life who would adore a book like this as a gift!