Strangers in the Garden: The Secret Lives of Our Favorite Flowers

Beryl Hamilton is a freelance writer in Thunder Bay who specializes in
home gardening.

Andrew Smith, a writer and book designer who gardens in Toronto, points
out that we commonly identify familiar flowers by sight and scent, while
our knowledge of their origins and the folklore associated with them is
often sketchy at best. Smith has chosen 10 familiar flowers as the focus
of this book (chrysanthemum, clematis, crocus, dahlia, geranium, iris,
lilac, peony, rhododendron, and tulip), and furnishes background
information for each one. The flowers are featured in separate chapters;
lavish illustrations (some of them full-page) accompany the text, which
covers each flower’s history, mythology, and factual data.

Smith writes clearly and concisely (“According to Greek mythology the
crocus flower originated on a day when the gods were amusing themselves
by racing each other to prove who was the fastest runner”), and spices
up the material with lively observations (“[W]hen we learn that three
women, well known at different times in history for their tragic yet
momentous lives, were attracted to the Dahlia, it’s difficult not to
wonder about the flower’s melancholy charms”). His abundant
enthusiasm for his subject is definitely contagious, and one is apt to
agree with each of his aesthetic conclusions: “[T]here is something
achingly stoic about a spring crocus.”

The book is mesmerizing. Readers will never view the 10 featured
flowers just for their colour and scent again.