Everlasting Flowers for Pleasure and Profit

Catherine P. Wilson is a Toronto-based graphic designer and print
consultant.

This book describes how to garden more than 40 varieties of flowers and
herbs, turn them into “everlasting flowers,” and successfully sell
them. Using an “over-the-fence” approach, Verhelst suggests that
“everlasting” those “dead” flowers may be profitable, by
providing an alternative crop for farmers or a home-based business for
entrepreneurs. The text covers “preparing of the soil, starting the
seeds, growing, picking, drying in silica gel, preserving in glycerin,
pressing, storing and packing flowers for shipping. It gives a formula
for pricing the flowers, as well as the finished products, and suggests
ways to sell them.”

Although there are some interesting ideas here, a good editor and a
good designer could have made it a better book. For example, typos such
as “Forward” (instead of Foreword) or “St. Catherines” (instead
of St. Catharines) are distracting; no index or cross-referencing limits
its usefulness as a resource; and there are few eastern Canadian
suppliers listed (thus limiting its audience to western Canada).
Furthermore, if wholesale buyers of these everlastings want their
flowers separated by color to save sorting time, then why is this book
only in black and white? This is especially disappointing after viewing
the gorgeous full-color cover.