false 62081 4 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&#8217;s no surprise that there is a $40 billion global industry devoted to making flowers flawless.<br><br> Amy Stewart takes us inside the flower trade&#8212;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&#8217;s and Mother&#8217;s Day. There&#8217;s the breeder intent on developing the first blue rose; an eccentric horticultural legend who created the world&#8217;s most popular lily; a grower of gerberas of every color imaginable; and the equivalent of a Tiffany diamond: the &#8220; Forever Young&#8221; rose.<br><br> Stewart explores the relevance of flowers in our lives and in our history, and in the process she reveals all that has been gained&#8212;and lost&#8212;by tinkering with nature. 60335 2007 Flower Confidential: The Good, the Bad, and the Beautiful in the Business of Flowers total:211|5:44|4:105|3:50|2:9|1:3| 211 811 382 80 4 1 false false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Thu Apr 10 07:58:21 -0700 2008 Thu Apr 10 08:06:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 0 0 false false Thu Feb 05 09:42:38 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 05 09:42:38 -0800 2009 Amy Stewart's previous books, the award-winning The Earth Moved: On the Remarkable Achievements of Earthworms and From the Ground Up: The Story of a First Garden (see below), testify to the author's fascination with dirtying her hands. The well-researched and exuberantly written Flower Confidential ...

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A combination of botany, history and personal stories, very well done. I thought this would be sort of a Fast Food nation for flowers, and while Stewart does get into topics like working conditions in t...more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Sep 24 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Feb 26 16:35:06 -0800 2009 Sat Sep 26 08:56:18 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Dec 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Fri Oct 17 14:36:35 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 17 14:36:35 -0700 2008
Her detailed research is admirable and bring...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Nov 18 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Oct 11 04:58:03 -0700 2008 Tue Nov 18 06:56:07 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jun 29 12:38:51 -0700 2008 Tue Dec 16 21:50:39 -0800 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon May 05 11:44:47 -0700 2008 Mon May 05 12:00:39 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Mon Feb 25 16:12:13 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 16:12:13 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jul 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Sun Jan 20 22:55:34 -0800 2008 Sun Jan 20 22:55:53 -0800 2008
From a geneticist’s lab in one of several countries to the breeders in the Netherlands to the growers in Ecuador, back to the Netherlands for auction or directly to a wholesaler in Miami, to a florist near you, the arrangement in your living room is well traveled, to say the least. In ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sat Sep 22 17:04:07 -0700 2007 Wed Dec 12 17:43:14 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Oct 20 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon Aug 31 11:36:47 -0700 2009 Thu Oct 22 18:11:01 -0700 2009 Flower Confidential by Amy Stewart was a fascinating and enlightening read. I enjoyed it immensely. I knew many cut flowers came from South America, but that was pretty much all I knew about the business of breeding, growing and selling cut flowers. Readers will learn the history of the "Star G...more...]]> 4 0 false false Thu Sep 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Aug 29 16:12:05 -0700 2009 Fri Sep 18 07:18:14 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 13:01:07 -0800 2009 Sat Feb 21 13:02:56 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Jan 26 05:01:57 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 05:06:35 -0800 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Sun Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Sep 13 15:25:42 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 20 04:15:17 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Thu Feb 12 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Mon Jan 26 11:58:37 -0800 2009 Thu Feb 12 13:47:39 -0800 2009 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=62081