Excerpt from article:

Analyzed by the most soulful of poets and adored tenderly by the most perfunctory of scientists, flowers have resounded through the ages as emblems of beauty, sex, and love -- the ideal token of affection for a sweetie or loved one. Yet the modern commercial flower and the $40 billion a year industry behind it have a sinister side that might just change the way you say "be mine" this Valentine's Day.

In her new book, Flower Confidential, Amy Stewart illuminates many sinister facets of the business, botany, and history of flowers. Stewart reports that 78 percent of the estimated 4 billion flowers purchased in the United States each year come from overseas -- most from Latin America, where flower growers are notorious for their shoddy labor rights records...