A review of the horticultural novelties that are double flowers, exploring everything from their biology to the emotional responses they evoke.
The late Nicola Ferguson is probably best known for her very popular book, Right Plant Right Place. This new book – begun before her death in 2007 and completed by Charles Quest-Ritson – will no doubt become just as popular.
Ferguson was a psychologist by trade and the genesis behind this work is an intensely curious mind. The introduction draws you in, questioning what it is about double blooms that has lured horticulturists and florists alike over the centuries, and also gives a concise history of double flowers and how they came about. We learn that contrary to popular thought many doubles do produce nectar, that double flowers can last longer than single flowers (a particularly useful trait for florists), and that some doubles can hold on to their old flowers and look ugly.
The chapter, The What, the How and the Why of Double Flowers, is more scientific and is probably the most concise and informative study of double flowers ever undertaken.
Later chapters look at double-flowered plant varieties and, unusually, they are categorised subjectively according to their character, how they make you feel or the atmosphere they convey, under headings such as The Romantic and the Ethereal, The Formal, and The Showy and Flamboyant. Each plant is described in detail with a brief history, a look at the floral composition, and how it might be used in a garden with other plants.
Throughout the book the writing is fluid and lively, never stodgy, and the text flows seamlessly from one subject to the next. Credit should also be given to Charles QuestRitson who took up the reigns and finished the work after Ferguson’s untimely death.