“The Best of Martha Stewart Living: Arranging Flowers” by Martha Stewart (Clarkson Potter, $26).
Martha Stewart’s book brims with information on seasonal blooms, the importance of pruning, vase selection and flower arranging for different moods. Striking displays include Black Prince violas in a trumpet-shaped wine goblet and a dazzling centerpiece of green “Envy” zinnias. As with most Martha productions, the photography is flawless.
“Simple Flowers” by Paula Pryke (Rizzoli International Publications Inc., $27.50).
Author Pryke runs a successful floral enterprise in London and her experience in the petal business shows in this flower-arranging book in the spirit of Martha Stewart’s. Pryke and photographer James Merrill show the glory of a single flower, such as an orange Iceland poppy in an S-curved vase and small “Mona Lisa” anemones in a square-cut vase with yellow stones.
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“Done in a Day Garden Projects” by Stewart Walton (Time Life Books, $12.95).
Put Dinah Washington’s “What a Difference a Day Makes” on the stereo while following the step-by-step directions to make a homemade hammock, a brick barbecue, a raised herb bed or a stepped paved path. These projects are meant to be done at leisure. The guidelines are simple to follow. Now see if they really can be done in one day.
“Hiding in a Fort: Backyard Retreats for Kids” by Lawson Drinkard (Gibbs-Smith Publisher, $8.95).
This book has clever projects for children to create special places that are personal and private. It probably is a good idea, however, to have an adult supervising certain projects in which a hammer, nails, staple gun and a knife must be used. Once the project is completed, children can have their own special place to dream.