There’s a scene in a book you love that you can still see perfectly in your mind’s eye: the windswept abbey, the overgrown garden, the candlelit ballroom. This Christmas, we’ll bring it to life, with the story bursting out of the pages in dried flowers.
At The Bloomstead, our flower farm in Thunder Bay, Ontario, many of the flowers we design with are locally grown, foraged, dried, and preserved, so every blooming book carries a little of northwestern Ontario in it.
What Is a Blooming Book?
We have two types of blooming books. One lays flat and we arrange a lower profile bouquet between the pages. The title of the book isn’t important as you never see it.
Our upright blooming books aren’t a bouquet with a book for a vase. Each one is a one-of-a-kind piece designed to capture a single scene, setting, or moment, with dried flowers spilling up and out of the book as if the story couldn’t be contained. We choose the colours, textures, and botanicals to put you right in that moment.
A Few Scenes We’ve Brought to Life
Every blooming book starts with a moment from the story. Here are some we’ve created:
- Anne of Green Gables: From the Barry Garden. Marigolds, sedum, zinnias, bunnytails, larkspur, pearly everlasting, and lavender: a warm, old-world, PEI-style cottage garden, a little overgrown and a little wild.
- Dracula: Lucy’s Bench at Whitby Abbey. Burgundy roses, lavender, and thistles, windswept and gothic.
- Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire: The Yule Ball at the Triwizard Tournament. Silvery foliage, icy blue echinops, shimmering lunaria, lavender, and wintry larkspur. Dotted with dahlias, a single textural artichoke, and a few icicles.
- The Phantom of the Opera: From the Phantom’s Lair. Crimson roses with black ribbon and mahogany tones with textural seed pods for a forever love.
- Fourth Wing: From Beneath the Parapet. Rust and gold fall tones, bare branches, spiky textures, stone-grey details, and a single dried violet.
- The Secret Garden: From Behind the Wall. Our vision of a northern garden, with marigolds, dahlias, goldenrod, and tansy, plus wormwood and lavender adding a scent that fills the room.
- The Wizard of Oz: Blooms from Munchkinland, Beside the Yellow Brick Road. Large silica-dried marigolds, café au lait dahlias, and brain celosia in a smaller hardcover to capture the scale of Munchkinland.
- Grimm’s Fairytale Collection: A fantastical garden straight from myth and legend. Lotus pods, artichoke, marigolds, tansy and wormwood — a collection as eclectic as the stories in the book.
We’re happy to repeat titles, but each blooming book is one-of-a-kind. There’s no recipe we follow. A single story holds many moments, and every piece gets its own design, palette, and personality.
Order In Time For Christmas!
Choose a book that matters to you (or to the person you’re gifting) and send it our way. Tell us if there’s a scene you’d love to see: the garden behind the wall, the grave in the mist, the road to the Emerald City, a windswept prairie, or even Bag End. We’ll do our best to recreate its atmosphere in dried flowers.
You’ll save $12 by supplying your own book (must be a hardcover)! Alternately, with enough time, we can try and source the book you have in mind.
Or Choose From Our Ready-Made Collection
Not sure which scene to pick, or short on time? We’ve got a curated selection on hand, ready for gifting or for your own shelf. Remember, each piece is one-of-a-kind. When it finds its home, it’s gone, and we won’t make a duplicate.
Why It Makes a Lovely Gift
Looking for a gift for a book lover or the person who loves flowers and misses them all winter? This is it.
- For the bookworm: A piece of their favourite story, brought to life.
- For the one who loves flowers: Natural, textured, and calming, a shelf, mantel, or entryway piece that makes a room feel considered.
- For the one who loves to buy local and curates their mantle or shelf: Something beautiful that’s local, hand-crafted, and instantly creates an aesthetic that brings calm, nature, and a warm spring scent all winter.
- For yourself: Because you deserve a home that looks and feels the way you want it to.
Unlike fresh flowers, a blooming book won’t wilt by New Year’s. Dried flowers last through the winter and well beyond, with no watering and no styling required. Set it down and the room simply feels finished. Picture it among your books — the ultimate shelf trophy, or on a coffee table or entry bench. It’s the piece everyone will notice when they visit.
Caring for Your Blooming Book
They’re easy to care for. Just keep them away from water and humidity (they’re already dried, after all). Keep them out of direct sunlight to help preserve the colour. And they’re easy to dust: just use a hairdryer on a low, cool setting.
A Note on Timing
Custom pieces take time to design and build. We need at least two weeks for your custom blooming book, and more if we’re searching for a particular title or materials we don’t have in stock. Spots are limited, and custom orders close December 5th, 2026 for material we don’t have on hand. To have yours ready before the holidays, reach out as soon as you can.
Ready to Begin?
Drop us an email or message us on Instagram, Facebook, or TikTok, and tell us about the book you love, or the person receiving the gift, and we’ll take it from there. Local pickup and delivery in Thunder Bay only.
This Christmas, give a story that comes to life.
With love,
Lisa and Jenna