|
|
|
|
|
|
|
HELP | |
|
  $9.50 List price:
TRADE PAPER, USED
Ships in 1 to 3 days
More copies of this ISBN:Flower Confidentialby Amy Stewart
Synopses & ReviewsPublisher Comments: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. Review:"An engaging mix of botany, history and commerce....Stewart writes with humor and insight, entertaining as she informs." Kirkus Reviews Review:"This engaging exploration won't make you feel guilty about buying a bouquet, but it will make you much more informed — and intrigued — by where it came from." BUST Review:"...Stewart captures all this with wit and elegance that, by book's end, will have the most cantankerous capitalist thinking differently
about a product 'bred more for its suitability as freight than for any of its more refined qualities — delicacy, grace, fragrance.'" Fast Company Review:"A potent medium of quirky wit, incisive reporting and occasionally breathtaking prose... Flower Confidential is a page-turner." Bookpage Review:"As candid as she is circumspect, Stewart combines a romantic's idealism with a journalist's objectivity in this tantalizing expose." Booklist Review:"Stewart provides the reader with a well-rounded perspective of the flower industry." Library Journal Synopsis:Award-winning author Amy Stewart takes readers on an around-the-world, behind-the-scenes look at the flower industry and how it has soughtand#8212;for better or worseand#8212;to achieve perfection. She tracks down the hybridizers, geneticists, farmers, and florists working to invent, manufacture, and sell flowers that are bigger, brighter, and sturdier than anything nature can provide. There's a scientist intent on developing the first genetically modified blue rose; an eccentric horitcultural legend who created the most popular lily; a breeder of gerberas of every color imaginable; and an Ecuadorean farmer growing exquisite roses, the floral equivalent of a Tiffany diamond. And, at every turn she discovers the startling intersection of nature and technology, of sentiment and commerce. Synopsis:A globe-trotting, behind-the-scenes look at the dazzling world of flowers and the fascinating industry it's created.
It might be unromantic to call a flower a commodity or a manufactured product, but flowers are both. They've become big businessand#8212;created in laboratories, bred in test tubes, grown in factories, harvested by machines, packed into boxes, sold at auctions, and then flown across oceans and continents to your supermarket or local florist. Amy Stewart tracks down the hybridizers, geneticists, growers, and vendors working to invent, manufacture, and sell flowers that are bigger, brighter, and sturdier than anything nature can provide. From big agribusiness to local farming, from Europe to Latin America, Flower Confidentialexplores the intersection of nature and technology, of sentiment and commerce. VideoAbout the AuthorAmy Stewart is the author of The Earth Moved, which won the 2005 California Horticultural Societyand#8217;s Writerand#8217;s Award, and From the Ground Up. Her essays and commentaries have appeared in the New York Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Garden Design, Organic Gardening, and elsewhere. She has been featured on NPR, Good Morning America, and CBS Sunday Morning Table of ContentsContents Introduction 1 Part 1 Breeding 1 The Birds, the Bees, and a Camel Hair Brush 15 2 Engineered to Perfection 40 Part 2 Growing 3 Italian Violets and Japanese Chrysanthemums 61 4 Acres under Glass 77 5 How the Dutch Conquered the World 106 6 Flowers on the Equator 137 Part 3 Selling 7 Forbidden Flowers 173 8 The Dutch Auction 209 9 Florists, Supermarkets, and the Next Big Thing 237 Epilogue: Valentine"s Day 271 The Care and Feeding of Cut Flowers 283 Visiting Markets and Growers 285 Statistics 289 Notes 293 Selected Bibliography 303 What Our Readers Are SayingBe the first to add a comment for a chance to win!Product Details
Other books you might like
Related Aisles
| |||||||||||||||
|
| ||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||
Don't Miss
