My new book, Flower Confidential, will be published in February 2007. I encourage you to buy a copy from your local independent bookseller when it comes out, but you can also place an advance order online now.
I’ll post more news in the weeks and months to come. (and yes, there will be a book blog–more about that soon, too!) Meanwhile, here’s a little description of the book:
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. 