Overview

A green-fingered gardener, Amy Stewart has always delighted in the sight of freshly cut flowers, but she grew increasingly curious and uneasy about the journey those flowers take to reach her bouquet. In Gilding the Lily Stewart introduces us to the people, places and plants that make up this multi-million pound industry, from a lily grower in the American Northwest, to the rose fields of Ecuador and the tulip greenhouses in Holland. Gilding the Lily is a page-turning enquiry into the controversial practices that lie behind each bloom, including the treatment of the workers in the fields and greenhouses, the issue of patenting and the use of pesticides, and the financial forces that drive the quest for the 'perfect' flower. It is also a wonderful story about the romance and the reality of growing and cultivating flowers.

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9781846271748

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Reviews

Revealing on how your supermarket roses get to you, why they don't smell anymore, and other controversial practices * Bookseller * Stewart does an admirable job ... some first- rate reportage -- Charles Elliott * Literary Review * I also heartily recommend Amy Stewart's very readable book, Gilding the Lily, wherein she inquires extensively into the world of commercial flower growing: including matters such as worker conditions, air miles, plant breeding, patenting, pesticides, and the reason why flowers don't smell any more -- Jane Powers * Irish Times * It is interesting to learn of ancient concerns about the distorting effects of flower production -- Geoff Simons * Morning Star * An informative guide to the global cut flower trade * Amateur Gardening * Amy Stewart goes inside the cut flower business ... and reveals the stories behind the world's favourite lily and the search for a blue rose * Choice Magazine * One of the quirkiest books of the last quarter * Oldie *

Author Information

Amy Stewart is a garden columnist who lives in California, where she writes for Organic Gardening, the San Francisco Chronicle, and others.

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