Flower Confidential (2007)

Flower Confidential, Amy Stewart's thorns-and-all exposé of the blossom business, is no scandal-packed dishfest. While the intricacies of, say, the Dutch tulip market are almost snooze-inducing — especially if you can't tell a hyacinth from a hydrangea — things perk up when the author moves out of greenhouses and into florists. She visits small, well-kept-secret shops (like the NYC gem Flowers of the World) and high-volume discounters ($700 will get you an entire wedding's worth of roses at Costco), and her cut-flower care guide is stem-tastic: To keep your Valentine's Day bouquet fresh for days, add a pinch of crushed Viagra.