Flower Confidential
By Amy Stewart
I must admit I was a little hesitant to pick up a nonfiction book that details the history of
the cut flower industry. It sounded about as dry as a sprig of stattice in the middle of
February. Yet, I was intrigued by it’s title and I guess subliminally drawn to the bright cover.
After a couple of pages into Stewart’s expose’ on the cut flower industry I knew I was hooked
on a good read.
Flower Confidential begins with a story relating how the person who created the garden
lily phenomenon, Star Gazer, received nary a penny for his efforts. It then goes on to trace
the route of cut flowers, from the fields of Columbia to the crowded way-station in Miami.
Along the way, Stewart shares some ambivalence she feels about the industry. As she
so aptly reveals, these symbols of love, beauty and redemption is harvested by people
making less than a dollar a day in an assembly line like fashion. To add insult to injury, most
cut flowers are being doused relentlessly with harmful chemicals.
Flower Confidential is not exactly a battle cry against the cut flower industry as it is an
in-depth investigation, in a blameless fashion, of how cut flowers make it from the vast fields
to our dining room tables and mantles. It is a thorough undertaking that sheds light on this
industry while providing a fascinating read along the way.
Botany of Desire
By Michael Pollan
Anyone with even a passing interest in gardening and plants should read Michael Pollan’
s Botany of Desire.
Pollan takes a look at four very popular, if not cherished plants: apples, potatoes, tulips
and cannabis, and tries to explain our complicated relationship with them. While most folks
think that humans control the destiny and outcomes of plants, Pollan postulates that the
plants themselves evolve to get our attention, thus ensuring the proliferation and
improvement of the species. Pollan writes from several vantage points: historical, first hand
accounts and antidotal to arrive at his conclusions, with a dash of his own personal
observations as a gardener and journalist.
*Click on the above titles to order either one of these books from Amazon.com*