Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers
by Amy Stewart
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Book Summary Information
Author: Amy StewartEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-01-04
ISBN: 1565124383
Number of pages: 306
Publisher: Algonquin Books
Book Reviews of Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers
Book Review: Flower Power
Summary: 5 Stars
Most of us have purchased flowers; either in random bunches at the grocery store, or in expensive bouquets for weddings or funerals. So, what makes a grocery store rose cost $1.00, but one from a florist cost 10 times that? How the heck do all those out-of-season roses end up blossoming beautifully for a mid-February holiday celebrated from Miami to Fairbanks? Why do we swoon over pictures of exotic arrangements in upscale magazines, but when we visit our local florist, we see the same old carnations and mums? The author follows the journey of the flowers that we love from cradle to grave, and what an interesting and varied journey it is. Just consider the topic of flowers; why is it customary to gift them? where did they grow? who developed and harvested them? how do some of them get from the steamy tropics to our dining room tables, and arrive with enough vase-life left in them to delight us for days? You'll find the answers to these questions, and more, in this delightful book. Ms. Stewart takes a common-sense approach to understanding the entire process. She views each stage of flower growing not with the jaded eye of a scientist, but with the wonder of someone who simply loves flowers. She thinks the kinds of thoughts you or I might think, and asks the same kinds of questions. Thankfully, this book does not veer into detailed botanical explanations, it speaks in a clear, even voice. One thing I did miss though, was photos. The author frequently speaks of taking photos on her journeys into the hidden world of flowers, and her descriptions made me ache to see them. The few diagrams are helpful, but they don't hold a candle to what Ms. Stewart saw. A fun, and easily digestible educational read.
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Summary of Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers
We buy more flowers a year than we do Big Macs, spending $6.2 billion annually. We use them to mark our most important events, to express sentiments that might otherwise go unsaid. And we demand perfection. So it's no surprise that there is a $40 billion global industry devoted to making flowers flawless.Amy Stewart takes us inside the flower trade-from the hybridizers, who create new varieties in the laboratory, to the growers, who produce flowers by the millions (often in a factory-like setting), to the Dutch auctioneers, who set the bar (and the price), and ultimately to the neighborhood florists orchestrating the mind-boggling demands of Valentine's and Mother's Day. There's the breeder intent on developing the first blue rose; an eccentric horticultural legend who created the world's most popular lily; a grower of gerberas of every color imaginable; and the equivalent of a Tiffany diamond: the " Forever Young" rose.
Stewart explores the relevance of flowers in our lives and in our history, and in the process she reveals all that has been gained-and lost-by tinkering with nature.
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