A four minute short film by Stephen Buchmann including many floral photographs and time lapse sequences...
"The Reason for Flowers is an extraordinarily good book. It covers the subject with thoroughness and scientific accuracy,working it (as flowers deserve) into history and culture, and written with poetic sensitivity."
– Edward O. Wilson, University Professor Emeritus, Harvard University
"Do flowers need a reason? In The Reason for Flowers,Stephen Buchmann reminds us that flowers exist for more than just beauty and fragrance. They are miniature chemical factories, wireless signal stations,inspiration for artists, and--of course--sustenance for the most important creatures living on the planet. In short, flowers run the world. Stephen Buchmann is a gifted storyteller and an inquisitive scientist who is intrigued by the dazzling and intricate world of flowers. Thanks to this delightful new book, you will be, too."
– Amy Stewart, New York Times bestselling author of The Flower Confidential
"With a subtitle that serves as a swift, sweet summary, [Stephen Buchmann] compresses the cultural and natural history of flowers into a few hundred graceful pages...A volume that is like a Eurail Pass that will carry you through gorgeous terrain you will want to explore in more depth."
– Kirkus
"Stephen Buchmann is to plants and their pollinators as Jaques Cousteau, Sylvia Earle and Carl Safina have been to the oceans. He opens our eyes to wondrous worlds we have never seen before. This world-renowned explorer of nature’s inner workings will delight you while unobtrusively edifying you at the same time."
– Gary Paul Nabhan, Kellogg Endowed Chair in Sustainable food Systems, University of Arizona
"The Reason for Flowers is a gardening book and more. Buchmann entertains with particulars of the patriotic gardens of Washington and Jefferson, and those of Asia and ancient Rome. We learn how our most beloved flowers came to be, along with new oddities like the black petunia. Every gardener and flower-lover will want this book."
– Carrie Hulburd, President, Columbine Garden Club (GCA chapter) of Phoenix, AZ
"Aesthetically, flowers enrich our lives and symbolize our emotions, but they are of even greater importance to us in their natural function in nature. In this attractive book, Steve Buchmann brings to life for the interested reader the many facets of their existence and their interplay with insects and other animals, informing us well about how they evolved and the roles that they play in our world."
– Peter H. Raven, President Emeritus, Missouri Botanical Garden
"If you are a gardener, a lover of flowers or nature, or even fruits and vegetables, The Reason for Flowers by Stephen Buchmann is a must-read. The book will deepen and broaden your enjoyment of not only the blossoms you see, but also the fruits and vegetables you eat, and the myriad bees and other pollinators you see zooming through any place with flowers. Buchmann tells stories of how human beings and other animals depend on flowers, how their history, cultivation and natural growth evolved together, how we have bred and nurtured them and they us, how most of them depend on animal pollinators to produce seeds and reproduce, how their biology works and complements ours, and how flowers have changed humanity as well as bringing immeasurable beauty to our lives."
- Eileen Rockefeller, Gardener