Product Description

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #512649 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-01
• Released on: 1999-11-17
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Spiral-bound
• 144 pages

Amazon.com Review
A domestic dervish whose Summer Notebook and Fall Notebook skillfully blended seasonal advice on gardening, entertaining, and crafting, Carolyne Roehm now turns her thoughts to winter in this, the third installment in the series. Believing that "winter is the most encouraging season for the gardener ... the only time of the year when the creative juices of the plantsman are given free reign," Roehm offers expert information on a wide variety of horticultural activities suitable for the season, including forcing bulbs and branches, growing and arranging hardy hellebores, and creating a winter-garden checklist.

Not to be outdone are the holidays, namely Christmas, New Year's and Valentine's Day, which Roehm illustrates down to the finest detail. From delectable meals and to-die-for decorations to vibrant floral arrangements and millennial good-luck gifts, everything one needs to plan and execute the finest of gatherings is covered, complete with clear recipes and instructions. Full-color photographs accompany Roehm's musings, along with pockets for storing ideas and "additional notes/inspirations/remember next year" lists for recording personal thoughts, making the Winter Notebook ideal for organizing one of the busiest seasons of the year. --Stefanie Hargreaves

About the Author
Carolyne Roehm, noted author and lifestyle contributor to Good Morning America, brings her gardening expertise to viewers weekly as the host of Country Homes, Country Gardens.

In 1991, Roehm, who had always taken great pleasure in indulging and surrounding herself with things she loved, decided to turn her personal passion for beauty and comfort into a fulfilling career. A longtime associate (and neighbor) of famed couturier, Oscar de la Renta, Roehm began her own fashion business, setting her designs apart from many others in the industry with her unflagging insistence on only the finest quality materials. Her designs quickly found a home with discriminating consumers, as her first year alone saw revenues exceeding $3 million. But Roehm's passion for beauty extended beyond the world of fashion, and she became determined to broaden her horizons accordingly.

Following a stint at the famed Paris flower shop, Moulie Savart, Roehm took the knowledge she gained there and put it into practical use for the everyday gardener. Resulting from her considerable experience, she takes great joy in revealing the many secrets she learned to help everyone achieve a bountiful and beautiful garden.

In 1997, Roehm published her first book, A Passion for Flowers (September 1997, HarperCollins Publishers) in which she detailed the experts' tricks to perfect gardening. A firm believer in luxury for everyone, Roehm feels that luxury doesn't necessarily mean expensive. Her breathtaking floral arrangements, for example, traditionally contain many common flowers such as carnations, marigolds, bleeding hearts, and Queen Anne's lace, which she collects from her own garden at her Connecticut home.

Roehm applies the fashion lessons she learned to her flowers. The familiar cry of "accessorize" is as important to arranging blooms as it is to one's own appearance. "I can't tell you how often I've seen a dress ruined with the wrong accessories," Roehm explains. "It's the same with flowers. Even the most beautiful flowers don't work if they're in the wrong vase or placed against the wrong background."

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
welcome to the
NOTEBOOK

Winter is the most encouraging season for the gardener. It is the only time of the year when the creative juices of the plantsman are given free reign. The frozen ground may not give way to a shovel, but it does yield to the fertile imagination. Spurred by stacks of plant and seed catalogues and garden books, I pick up colored pencils and graph paper to plot the spring plantings. This year, I promise myself, the beds and borders will be spectacular, the weather will work with me and the pests will be defeated. There are no earthly obstacles in January; I am a fount of optimism. By mid-July I will find that some of my hopes were misplaced. The too-pink poppies will look frightening next to the veronica, or the squash beetles may have done a number on the curcurbits. But during the dormant season my glass is half full. My completed vellum plans are a precise rendering of beds in elegant hues, nearly boxed and defined. For a few cold months my gardens are perfect, at least on paper. Seduced by promises of better hybrids and heirlooms my seed orders in February become bigger every year. By mid-March, every available shelf in the greenhouse and hoophouses brims with hope: scores of flats of eager seedlings that will surpass whatever variety they replaced last year. The 25 varieties of seed potatoes I ordered in a fit of spud madness arrive, and I remember that the peas will need sowing before the spring solstice. A daring planting of early lettuces, mache and spinach struggle the coldframe surrounded by a late March snow. The hellebores have followed the snowdrops and push up their buds before St. Patrick's Day. In winter, I am surrounded by potential. My house weatherstone burned to the ground this winter. But it, too, like an eager perennial pushing through the snow, will rise again and be more beautiful than before.

Customer Reviews

VIVE LA DIFFERENCE!
WHAT A TERRIFIC BOOK! This is"la creme de la creme" and i find it very difficult when other reviewers compare her product with Martha Stewart's line!It is as if we compare Opera with Andrea Bocelli,this collection of notebooks are so refined and so classic at the same time that i rediscover them each time i need them. The winter notebook gives wonderful ideas of presents for the guests and the flower arrangments are one of a kind. The level of artistry is demonstrated in each pages and places Carolyne Roehm as one of the most elegant designer of all. I also appreciate the fact that Carolyne Roehm understands the need of elegance in the day-to-day life and that it doesn't have to be expensive. I'm a young Opera singer and in my field you receive a lot of flowers and with this book i was able to create wonderful bouquets and appreciate another form of art. I admire her flair and her sense of style, for me Carolyne Roehm is not only a designer but a real artist who search for the very best in every detail.

Not bad, but lacks content
This was the first of Ms. Roehm's seasonal notebooks that I purchased. I have since bought the other two, and am anticipating the Spring notebook due out soon. While the photos are exquisite, I feel that the book lacks content. I couldn't help wishing there was more of everything in this book - more pictures, recipes, etc. I enjoy a good "picture book" and that's most likely the reason I'm awaiting the last book to the series. I couldn't help comparing her to Martha Stewart, and I'd gladly welcome a new face in that field, but it just doesn't come close to Martha's myriad of ideas. The bottom line is: if you like to look at pretty pictures and get some inspiration for decorating your own home, then you'd probably like this book.

Perfect for a creative person
I found this third book in the series as inspirational as the others. I don't need step-by-step instruction to develop something beautiful. A little inspiration goes a long way with a naturally creative audience. For those who have time to glue flowers on boxes, I leave you Martha. From a busy professional's point of view, I'll take the Roehm way, any day.