If, like me, your floristry skills amount to sticking a few tulips in a jar, then take inspiration from this collection of specialist books guaranteed to help you transform a humble bouquet into a stunning floral display. Our selection includes everything from wedding flowers to Japanese Ikebana with help for the novice arranger and tips for the professional florist.

By Elspeth Pridham

With simple step-by-step instructions and clear photos, you can now create impressive but achievable flower arranging for all occasions - from pretty flowers in the home to striking bouquets for weddings. Featuring over 70 arrangements, using the most widely available flowers, this book is packed with insider tips and tricks for achieving stunning results with minimum effort and for keeping your flowers fresh and beautiful for as long as possible.

'Flower Arranging', by Mark Welford and Stephen Wicks (Dorling Kindersley, £20). Buy it for £16 from the Allaboutyou online bookshop

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Create a spring bouquet from this book

Create a floral cupcake display from this book

With the help of this instruction-filled guide you can create gorgeous wedding arrangements with ease. The book explains how to co-ordinate the flowers with the overall theme of the ceremony and where the arrangements will be needed, from button-holes to centrepieces at the reception. Learn the floral basics and pick up suggestions on bouquet shapes and their relation to the dress.

'The New Book of Wedding Flowers', by Joanne O'Sullivan (Lark Books, £9.99)

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Pretty wedding posies to make

This is the essential 'how to' manual for anyone interested in flowers and floral art. Covering classic, contemporary and cutting-edge design, this book will enable the beginner to build knowledge and competence and quickly get started in the art, while the experienced arranger will find the book inspirational too. Richly illustrated with over 500 colour photos, the encyclopaedia includes seasonal design ideas and provides a useful reference of many of the flowers and foliage that are available. Judith Blacklock is principal of the Judith Blacklock Flower School in London.

'The Judith Blacklock Encyclopedia of Flower Design', (The Flower Press, £30)

Sarah Raven has spent five years testing and cultivating the best possible cut flowers for growing at home. Her book is for the flower arranger who wants to grow their own flowers, but has never gardened before, and for the gardener who wants ideas on how to best display their harvest. It demystifies the world of floristry, divulging insider tips on sowing seed, conditioning flowers and making simple, but stylish arrangements. Illustrated with over 250 colour photos.

'Grow Your Own Cut Flowers', by Sarah Raven (BBC Books, £20)

Over 40 simple yet stylish designs for flowers and foliage available during the summer season written by designer Judith Blacklock. The book also includes sections on design techniques, buying flowers, caring for your flowers and a pictorial flower index. Spring, Autumn and Winter editions are also available

'Flower Recipes for Summer', by Judith Blacklock (Flower Press, £14.99)

Britain's best-known floral artist, Jane Packer, picks the flowers she loves best and shows how they can bring colour, variety and style to every corner of the home. She covers all the basics, including buying, conditioning and caring for flowers as well as choosing the right vases to display them in. Suggestions include dramatic flowers for the mantelpiece through to cut flowers for outdoor entertaining. No stiff bouquets or formal displays, just pretty, simple and achievable arrangements that you'll yearn to re-create in your own home.

At Home with Flowers', by Jane Packer, (Ryland Peters & Small, £19.99)

Covering every aspect of working with flowers in church, this is the essential reference for both the beginner and experienced church flower arranger containing more than 300 colour photographs, 100 line drawings and 18 easy step tutorials. The book is crammed full of useful tips and shows examples of arrangements in many different areas of the church, with ideas on how to create big designs on a small budget and suggestions for the different church festivals, including weddings.

'Church Flowers', by Judith Blacklock (Flower Press, £35)

Annick Van Wesemael, master florist, translates her passion for her profession into dramatic table decorations. Her book bubbles over with ideas for imaginative centrepieces, ranging in style from romantic and delicate to exuberant. Annick uses a whole range of vegetables, leaves and flowers to transform your table into a masterpiece.

'Tasty Tables 2', by Annick van Wesemael (Antique Collectors Club, £27.50)

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Create a striking pepper and lily centrepiece

This book argues that silk flowers are not mere substitutes for real blooms but decorative items in their own right. It guides you through a variety of arrangements, suitable for all occasions, using long-lasting, allergy-free silk flowers.

'Silk Flower Arranging', by Marcianne Miller (Lark Books, £8.99) 

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Make beautiful ribbon roses

Ikebana is the ancient Japanese art of flower arranging, where each floral structure is a carefully-balanced combination of form and space, unlike Western floral displays no part of an ikebana arrangement is random. This book goes back to the very heart of ikebana and focuses on the diversity of the arrangements through the seasons investigating the interaction between the arrangement and its natural surroundings.

'Ikebena Through the Seasons', by Mit Ingelaere-Brandt (Stichting Kunstboek, £55)