This is one of the best books there is for beginners.  It has wonderful and fanciful photos of the usual elephant, phoenix, and basket, but there's  even one with a goldfish!
        You can follow the illustrations to learn how to carve these exotic shui xian hua. 
        The book begins with the selection of bulbs and then goes on to general techniques with suggestions on how to use the various tools. 
        The projects lead on through more and more difficult steps to some truly amazing shui xian hua topiary. 
        If you get only one book, get this one. 
get this book for $17.50