On Flowers : BY KATHRYN KLEINMAN AND SARA SLAVIN (Chronicle Books; 1988)

“THIS BOOK IS for people who care about all the pleasures of flowers. It comes full of surprises. . . . It is a book about beauty.” Beginning with the cover photograph of lavender-hued hydrangeas, the promise of those words is fulfilled again and again. As much as Kleinman and Slavin have created a book for the eye, they have created a book for the spirit: “On Flowers” is pure joy. Wonderful, eclectic bits of information--accompanied by sensitive, stunning photographs--are found on every page: what to talk about on a spring walk with a child; the story of the “Peace” rose; the tale of a 17th-Century Dutchman who went to jail for eating a rare bulb he had mistaken for an onion; the fact that farmers must harvest 4,320 crocus flowers to make 1 ounce of saffron. It’s filled with literary references, personal musings, history, poetry, even some practical hints. ($29.95)