Green Flowers by Alison Hoblyn, hardback published by Timber Press. Price 16.99 in the U.K.
This book is subtitled Unexpected Beauty for the Garden, Container or Vase
It deals with just 85 flowers (remember I found over 1000). So you know straight away that the author has expended little effort on research. This is also borne out by the fact the the author makes many mistakes. She discusses Anemone nemerosa ‘Viridiflora’ and ‘Virescens’ as two plants, when one is a synonym of the other. A simple check would have put this right, yet similar mistakes are made throughout the book. Perhaps the biggest blunder is in including Euphorbia lathyris – to ask a gardener to plant such a weed is amazing. Other reviewers have picked up on the same mistakes. With so many mistakes on cultivation and other points – where did she get her facts from?
Alison Hoblyn is an author of novels and a painter. 67 of the plants are found in ‘Emeralds’, the book I wrote in 2005. Some of the remaining plants are actually yellow-flowered and not green, others are duplicates of a plant already described under a synonym. Some of the green flowers that everyone can think of such as orchids and the lovely Zinnia ‘Green Envy’ are omitted, but then this is far from a comprehensive book. For some reason there is mention of a Primula auricula supplier, yet those plants are not included in the book – they are in mine. Alison’s observances on the introductory flap, on chlorophyll, on symbolism and on the florist’s garden, echo what is said in my book.
The general layout of the book is easy on the eye, if boring. It follows the same format for every plant described – the description on the left hand page, with a photograph on the right. The photographs are by Marie O’ Hara, a former stylist who has co-founded an image library. The majority of the photographs are not in focus. The book ends with a useful USDA zone map although this is easily obtainable to all and sundry online.
All in all, this book represents a very small selection of green flowers, for the main part poorly photographed, with many errors, mistakes and omissions that would easily have been put right by a good editor or knowledgable author. As I was approached by Timber in 2001 and told them I planned to write on silver, green, and gold, having already published ‘Black Magic and Purple Passion’ 1st edition, and having then rejected their contract and remained as a self-publisher to publish all my titles, all of the Timber Press titles have been published after my original titles on the subjects.