PETAL POWER

By Julia Atkinson-Dunn, Koa Press, $49.95 Kiwi blogger Julie documents her own adventures as a beginner gardener in her first book. After discovering a passion for gardening, she couldn’t find a pictureheavy local guide aimed at beginners

– so wrote and photographed her own. It’s a book of two halves, beginning with good digestible advice on types of plants, tools you’ll need, plant care and design principles. But it’s mostly given over to celebrating her 12 favourite plants which are largely whimsical flowers such as cosmos, sweet peas and snapdragons. So you’d have to be a fan of this pretty style to get the most out of this book. It has lovely photographs and rounds out with a guide to picking and arranging, and has recommendations for other resources.